s 


THE  TWIN  HELLS 


A  THRILLING  NARRATIVE  OF  LIFE  IN 
THE  KANSAS  AND  MISSOURI 

PENITENTIARIES 


JOHN  N.  REYNOLDS 

ATGHISON,  KANSAS. 


THOMPSON  &  THOMAS, 

267  WABASH  AVE. 
CHICAGO. 


TO  MY  DEAR   OLD  MOTHER 

AND 
TO  THB  MEMORY   OF   MY   SAINTED   WIFB 

THIS   BOOK 

IS  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED  BY 
THE  AUTHOR. 


2033188 


CONTENTS. 


Pre&ce, 9 

A  KANSAS  HELL. 

CMAFTEK. 

I.— My  Initiation  and  Crime, 13 

II.— The  Coal  Mines, 44 

III.— The  Coal  Mines,  Continued,        ....    59 
IV.— The  Punishments  of  the  Prison,  -  -    90 

V.— Sunday  in  the  Prison, 98 

VI.— Scenes  in  the  Hospital, 106 

VII.— Escapes  from  Prison, "5 

VIII.— The  Prisoners, 126 

IX.— Forty-eight  Hours  in  Hell,          '        •        •        -197 

X. -Stolen  Horses, 2*9 

XI.— Candidate  for  the  State  Senate,   -        -        -        -215 

XII.— A  Dark  Hour, 2*3 

XIII.-Freedom, 231 

A  MISSOURI  HELL. 

XIV.— The  Convict's  Home, »37 

XV.— The  Work  of  the  Convict, 253 

XVI.— The  Missouri  Prisoners,      -        -        -        -  .      •  262 
XVII.— The  Misiouri  Prisoners,  Continued,    -        -        -  277 

XVIII.— Prison  DiscipHme, 289 

XIX.— Noted  Convicts, 3P» 

XX.— The  Ex-Convict, 3" 

The  Twin  Hells  7 


PREFACE. 

THE  following  pages  treat  of  hell  —  A  Kan- 
44S  hell  and  a  Missouri  hell.  Those  who  de- 
sire to  peruse  works  that  tell  about  Heaven 
only,  are  urged  to  drop  this  book  and  run.  I 
was  an  inmate  of  the  Kansas  penitentiary  for 
sixteen  months,  and  make  mention  of  what 
came  under  my  own  observation  in  connection 
with  what  I  experienced.  While  an  inmate  of 
this  prison  I  occupied  cells  at  various  times 
with  convicts  who  had  served  terms  in  the 
Missouri  prison.  From  these  persons  I 
gathered  much  useful  material  for  my  book. 
After  my  release  I  visited  the  Missouri  peni- 
tentiary, and  verified  the  statements  of  those 
criminals,  and  gathered  additional  material 
from  the  prison  records  and  the  officials.  I 
have  written  chiefly  for  the  youth  of  the 
country,  but  all  ages  will  be  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  following  pages.  A  large  major- 
ity of  the  convicts  are  young  men  from  six- 
teen to  twenty-five  years  of  age.  They  had 
no  idea  of  the  terrible  sufferings  of  a  convict 

9 


10  PREFACE. 

life,  or  they  surely  would  have  resisted  tempta- 
tion and  kept  out  of  crime.  The  following 
pages  will  impart  to  the  reader  some  idea  of 
what  he  may  expect  to  endure  in  case  he  be- 
comes entangled  in  the  meshes  of  the  law,  and 
is  compelled  to  do  service  for  the  State  with- 
out any  remuneration.  Every  penitentiary  is 
a  veritable  hell.  Deprive  a  person  of  his 
liberty,  punish  and  maltreat  him,  and  you  fill 
his  life  with  misery  akin  to  those  who  wander 
in  the  darkness  of  "  eternal  night."  I  think, 
when  the  reader  has  perused  the  following 
pages,  he  will  agree  with  me,  that  the  book 
has  the  proper  title.  That  this  volume  may. 
prove  an  "  eye-opener  "  to  the  boys  who  may 
read  it,  and  prove  interesting  and  instructive 
to  those  of  mature  years,  is  the  earnest  wis^  of 
the  author. 


A  KANSAS  HELL. 


A  KANSAS  HELL 

CHAPTER  I. 

MY  INITIATION  AND   CRIME. 

GUILTY!  This  word,  so  replete  with  sadness 
ar.d  sorrow,  fell  on  my  ear  on  that  blackest  of 
all  black  Fridays,  October  14,  1887. 

Penitentiary  lightning  struck  me  in  the  city 
of  Leavenworth,  Kansas.  I  was  tried  in  the 
United  States  District  Court;  hence,  a  United 
States  prisoner. 

The  offense  for  which  I  was  tried  and  con- 
victed was  that  of  using  the  mails  for  fraudu- 
lent purposes.  My  sentence  was  eighteen 
months  in  the  penitentiary,  and  a  fine  of  two 
hundred  dollars.  I  served  sixteen  months,  at 
the  end  of  which  time  I  was  given  my  liberty. 
During  the  period  I  was  in  prison  I  dug  coal 
six  months  in  the  penitentiary  coal  mines,  and 
was  one  of  the  clerks  of  the  institution  the 
remainder  of  the  term.  Getting  permission 
to  kave  writing  material  in  my  cell,  I  first 


14  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

maste*©d  short-hand  writing,  or  phonography, 
attd  th«n  wrote  my  book:  "  A  Kansas  Hell; 
or,  Life  in  the  Kansas  Penitentiary. "  My 
manuscript  being  in  short-hand,  none  of  the 
prison  officials  were  able  to  read  it,  and  did 
not  know  what  I  was  doing  until  I  obtained 
my  liberty  and  had  my  book  published. 

This,  no  doubt,  will  be  the  proper  place  to 
give  some  of  my  antecedents,  as  well  as  a 
few  of  the  details  of  the  crime  for  which  I  was 
sent  to  the  penitentiary.  I  spent  my  youth 
and  early  manhood  at  Indianola,  Iowa,  from 
which  place  I  removed  to  Nebraska.  After 
residing  for  some  time  in  Columbus,  of  that 
State,  I  was  appointed  by  the  governor  to 
assist  in  organizing  the  Pawnee  Indian  Reser- 
vation into  a  county.  When  organized  it  was 
called  Nance  County,  being  named  for  Hon. 
Albinus  Nance,  then  governor  of  the  State. 
I  held  the  position  of  county  clerk  of  that 
county  for  four  consecutive  years.  During 
this  time  I  organized  the  Citizens'  Bank.  I 
was  its  cashier  at  first,  and,  later  on,  its  presi- 
dent. I  had  a  lucrative  business  and  was  doing 
well.  My  wife's  health  failed  her;  she  became 
consumptive.  My  family  physician  advised  a 
removal  to  the  South.  I  closed  out  my  busi- 


MY  INITIATION  AND  CRIME.  1 5 

ness  at  a  great  sacrifice,  and  came  to  Atchison, 
Kansas.  Here  I  located,  and  made  it  my  fut- 
ure home.  Soon  after  my  arrival  I  commenced 
the  publication  of  a  daily  newspaper,  known 
as  the  Times.  In  the  county  in  which  I  lo- 
cated I  found  one  of  the  worst  and  most  cor- 
rupt political  rings  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
This  combination  had  controlled  the  politics  of 
the  county  for  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
Soon  I  became  involved  in  a  terrific  news- 
paper war  with  the  members  of  this  political 
organization.  An  election  of  county  and  State 
officials  was  soon  to  take  place.  In  order  to 
test  the  strength  of  the  contending  elements, 
in  my  newspaper,  I  presented  the  name  of 
Hon.  W.  D.  Gilbert  as  a  candidate  for  district 
judge  in  opposition  to  the  ring  candidate.  A 
sharp  fight  ensued.  Mr.  Gilbert  was  elected 
by  an  overwhelming  majority.  This  was  the 
first  time  for  twenty-five  years  that  this  ring 
had  been  defeated.  The  members  of  it  were 
very  sore.  Looking  upon  me  as  the  principal 
spirit,  I  was  the  object  toward  which  they  di- 
rected all  their  shafts  of  spite. 

Some  time  before  this  an  insurance  company 
had  been  organized  in  the  city  of  Atchison. 
I  was  invited  to  become  its  president.  I 


16  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

examined  the  books  of  the  corporation,  and 
found  it  to  be  organized  according  to  the  laws 
of  Kansas  ;  that  the  company  had  a  charter 
from  the  State,  and  also  certified  authority  to 
issue  policies  of  insurance,  granted  by  the 
State  insurance  commissioner.  I  accepted  the 
presidency  on  condition  that  the  company  was 
simply  to  have  the  use  of  my  name,  and  that 
I  was  not  expected  to  give  any  of  my  time  to 
the  company,  as  I  was  otherwise  engaged.  I 
was  editor  of  a  daily  newspaper,  and  could  not 
attend  to  anything  else.  While  this  company 
was  doing  business  a  printed  circular  was  used, 
stating  that  the  corporation  had  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  PAID  UP  capital.  This  cir- 
cular was  sent  out  through  the  mails  over  the 
State  advertising  the  business.  It  was  charged 
this  circular  was  fraudulent ;  that  the  company 
did  not  have  that  amount  of  capital  paid  in. 
My  name  was  attached  to  this  printed  circular. 
For  this,  I  was  indicted  in  the  United  States 
District  Court,  on  the  charge  of  using  the  mails 
for  fraudulent  purposes.  The  advertised  cap- 
ital of  this  corporation  was  subscribed,  but  not 
all  paid  in,  as  it  was  not  needed  in  the  busi- 
ness of  the  company.  After  indictment  I 
was  arrested,  and  gave  bonds  for  my  appear- 


MY  INITIATION  AND   CRIME.  I/ 

anec  at  the  next  term  of  court,  which  was  held 
soon  after. 

Not  being  able  to  secure  the  attendance  of 
all  my  witnesses,  my  attorney  wrote  the  prose- 
cuting attorney  asking  his  consent  that  my 
case  be  continued.  The  request  was  granted. 
When  the  case  was  called,  my  attorney 
appeared  and  introduced  a  motion  to  continue 
the  case,  filing  affidavits  necessary  in  such 
cases.  The  prosecuting  attorney  having  given 
his  consent,  there  was  no  doubt  in  the  minds 
of  those  interested  as  to  the  continuance  of  the 
case.  For  some  cause  best  known  to  himself, 
the  judge  would  not  grant  the  continuance, 
and  forced  me  to  trial  without  having  a  single 
witness.  It  was  my  intention  to  have  some 
fifty  witnesses  subpoenaed,  to  prove  that  the 
insurance  company  of  which  I  was  president 
was  not  a  fraud.  Not  being  allowed  to  have 
my  witnesses,  I  was,  under  the  instructions  of 
the  court,  which  were,  indeed,  exceedingly 
pointed,  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to 
eighteen  months'  imprisonment  and  to  pay  a 
fine  of  two  hundred  dollars.  The  political 
ring  now  triumphed  for  a  brief  period.  In 
ardor  to  prove  conclusively  to  the  reader  that 
fait  vra»  apiece  of  spite  work,  I  have  only  to 


1 8  THE  TWIN   HEU- 

state  that  I  was  the  oniy  one  Ox  all  the  officers 
of  that  company  thn'~  :vas  ever  tried  for  run- 
ning a  bogus  insurance  company.  Why  was 
it  that  I  was  the  only  one  sent  to  the  peniten- 
tiary when  there  was  the  secretary,  treasurer, 
and  six  directors  equally  as  guilty  as  myself? 
To  prove  more  conclusively  that  it  was  po- 
litical spite  work  that  sent  me  to  prison,  let 
me  inform  the  readers  that  about  the  time  the 
insurance  company  at  Atchison  was  organized, 
a  similar  one  was  organized  in  Topeka.  They 
were  similar  in  EVERY  RESPECT.  I  was  presi- 
dent of  the  one  at  Atchison,  while  a  distinguished 
gentleman  by  the  name  of  Gen.  J.  C.  Cald- 
vvell  was  president  of  the  one  at  Topeka.  Both 
of  these  companies  failed.  The  president  of 
the  Atchison  company  was  sent  to  the  peni- 
tentiary, while  the  president  of  the  Topeka 
company  was  appointed  by  the  governor  of 
the  State  to  the  responsible  position  of  chair- 
man of  the  State  Board  of  Pardons.  Many 
persons  have  asked  why  this  difference  in  the 
treatment  of  the  presidents  of  these  two  com- 
panies. The  only  answer  that  can  be  given  is 
that  General  Caldwell  stood  in  with  the  Kansas 
political  ring,  while  I  did  not.  Every  sensible 
man  must  admit  that  if  it  was  just  for  me  to 


MY  INITIATION  AND   CRIME.  19 

serve  a  term  in  prison  for  the  offense  charged 
against  me,  General  Caldwell  should  have 
been  prescribed  for  in  the  same  manner.  I 
have  no  fight  to  make  upon  Mr.  Caldwell.  He 
is  an  excellent  gentlemen.  He  was  in  luck. 
The  fates  were  against  me.  Had  I  been  a 
State  instead  of  a  United  States  prisoner,  no 
doubt  Mr.  Caldwell,  as  chairman  of  the  Board 
of  Pardons,  would  have  used  his  influence  to 
secure  for  me  my  liberty.  That  I  was  sent  to 
prison  is  wholly  due  to  politico.  It  is  unneces- 
sary, therefore,  for  me  to  inform  the  reader 
that  I  am  now  "  out  of  politics."  Having 
served  out  my  term  I  returned  to  my  home  in 
Atchison.  As  to  the  ri«g  that  sent  me  to 
prison,  some  of  them  are  dead,  others  have 
left  Atchtson  to  make  their  homes  in  other 
places,  others  have  failed  financially,  and  still 
others  hare  fallen  so  low  that  they  have 
scarcely  friends  enough  to  bury  them  should 
they  happen  to  die. 

The  big  wfeeel  of  life  keeps  on  revolving. 
Those  who  are  up  to-day  may  be  down  to- 
morrow, and  vice  versa.  But  to  continue  my 
narrative .  Immediately  after  my  conviction 
and  sentence  I  was  taken  to  the  Leavenworth 
County  Jail.  Here  I  remained  until  the  follow- 


20  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

ing  Tuesday  in  the  company  of  a  dozen  or 
more  prisoners  who  were  awaiting  trial.  On 
Sunday,  while  in  this  jail,  my  wife,  who  died 
during  my  imprisonment  of  a  broken  heart, 
and  an  account  of  which  is  given  in  a  subse- 
quent chapter,  came  to  see  me.  I  can  never 
forget  this  visit.  She  remained  with  me  during 
the  entire  day.  During  the  conversation  of 
the  day  I  said  to  her  that,  it  seemed  that  the 
future  appeared  very  gloomy.  That  it  would 
be  a  miracle  if  I  ever  was  able  to  survive  the 
disgrace  that  had  been  so  cruelly  placed  upon 
me.  That  all  ambition  and  hope  as  to  the 
future  had  fled,  and  that  I  could  not  blame  her 
if  she  should  now  free  herself  by  means  of 
divorce,  as  my  conviction  of  crime  was  a  legal 
ground  for  divorce  in  Kansas.  In  reply  to 
this,  the  noble  little  woman,  her  face  aglow 
with  the  radiance  of  womanly  devotion,  said, 
that  for  twenty  years  of  married  life  our  home 
had  been  one  of  sunshine  ;  that  I  had  been 
kind  to  her  and  made  her  life  one  of  happiness, 
and  that  now,  when  misfortune  came,  it  was  not 
only  a  duty,  but  the  highestpleasure,  to  prove 
her  fidelity.  She  kept  her  word.  She  was 
true  to  the  last.  When  dying,  her  last  words 
were  a  petition  for  the  blessings  of  God  upon 


MY  INITIATION  AND  CRIME.  21 

her  husband  who  was  far  away  behind  frowning 
prison  walls.  On  Tuesday  morning  a  deputy 
United  States  marshal  came  to  the  jail  and 
gave  me  notice  that  in  a  few  moments  we 
would  leave  for  the  penitentiary.  This  officer 
was  a  gentleman,  and  did  not  seek  to  further 
humiliate  me  by  placing  irons  on  my  person. 
I  have  often  thought  of  this  act  of  kindness  on 
the  part  of  this  humane  official.  We  took 
the  train  at  Leavenworth,  and  in  a  very  few 
moments  were  at  my  future  place  of  residence. 
Lansing,  the  small  village  where  the  peniten- 
tiary is  located,  is  about  five  miles  from  the 
city  of  Leavenworth.  The  entrance  to  the 
prison  is  from  the  west.  Under  the  watchful 
care  of  the  officer  who  had  me  in  charge,  I 
passed  under  a  stone  archway,  to  the  left  of 
which  was  a  small  office,  where  a  guard  was  on 
duty  during  the  day  time.  We  were  halted  by 
this  officer,  who  inquired  if  we  had  any  fire- 
arms. No  one  visiting  the  penitentiary  is 
allowed  to  carry  fire-arms  within  the  enclosure. 
The  marshal  who  had  me  in  custody  handed 
over  a  large  navy  revolver.  Between  this  arch- 
way and  the  western  wall  of  the  prison  is  a 
beautiful  lawn.  The  walks  are  liaad  with  fra- 
grant flowers;  beautiful  fountains  send  aloft 


22  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

their  silvery  sprays.  Passing  up  the  roadway 
leading  to  the  entrance  door,  and  looking  about 
me  upon  the  rich  carpet  of  green,  the  flowers 
and  fountains,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  penitentiary  was  not  so  bad  a  place  as  I  had 
imagined.  I  changed  my  mind,  however,  as 
soon  as  I  had  seen  inside  the  walls. 

The  prison  enclosure  contains  about  ten 
acres  of  ground.  This  is  surrounded  by  a 
stone  wall  some  fifteen  feet  high,  and  six  feet 
thick  at  the  base.  It  is  not  more  than  four 
feet  at  the  top.  At  each  of  the  four  corners 
may  be  found  a  tower  rising  some  ten  feet 
above  the  wall.  A  guard  is  on  duty  in  each 
of  these  towers  during  the  day.  He  carries  a 
double-barreled  shotgun  loaded  with  buck- 
shot. In  case  a  prisoner  tries  to  escape  he  is 
liable  to  get  a  dose  of  lead,  provided  the 
officer  on  duty  is  a  good  marksman.  The 
western  wall  is  almost  entirely  made  of  a  large 
stone  building  with  its  two  long  wings.  The 
main  building  is  four  stories.  The  wings 
stretching  to  the  north  and  south,  each  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet,  contain  the  cells.  On 
the  first  floor  of  the  main  building  are  the 
offices  of  the  warden,  clerk,  deputy  warden 


MY  INITIATION  AND  CRIME.  2$ 

and  turnkey.     The  upper  rooms  are  used  by 
the  warden's  family. 

I  was  first  conducted  into  the  clerk's  office 
and  introduced  to  Mr.  Jones,  the  clerk.  He 
is  a  very  pleasant  gentleman,  and  spoke  kindly 
to  me,  which  I  can  assure  all  was  very  accept- 
able, for  just  about  that  time  I  was  feeling  very 
badly.  His  remark  was:  "  I  am  very  glad  to 
meet  you,  Mr.  Reynolds,  but  sorry  to  meet 
you  under  these  sad  circumstances."  On  his 
invitation  I  took  a  chair  and  sat  down  to  await 
the  next  part  of  the  progamme.  As  I  sat 
there  and  thought  of  the  kind  words  spoken  to 
me  by  the  clerk,  I  quickly  reached  the  con- 
clusion that  if  all  the  officers  of  that  institution 
were  as  kind  as  Mr.  Jones,  it  would  not  be 
as  bad  a  place  as  I  had  anticipated.  I  had  no 
experience  then  that  would  justify  any  other 
conclusion.  Soon  a  side  door  of  the  office 
opened  and  in  came  the  deputy  warden,  Mr. 
John  Higgins.  Mr.  H.  is  the  sourest  appear- 
ing man  I  ever  met  in  my  life.  At  least,  it 
seemed  so  to  me  on  that  day.  He  can  get 
more  vinegar  on  the  outside  of  his  face  than 
any  other  person  in  the  State  of  Kansas. 
He  did  not  wait  to  be  introduced  to  me.  He 
never  craves  an  introduction  to  a  criminal. 


24  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

As  soon  as  he  came  into  the  room  he  got  a 
pole  with  which  to  measure  me.  Then,  look- 
ing at  me,  in  a  harsh,  gruff  voice  he  called 
out:  "  Stand  up  here."  At  first  I  did  not 
arise.  At  the  second  invitation,  however,  I 
stood  up  and  was  measured.  My  description 
was  taken  by  the  clerk.  In  this  office  there 
is  to  be  found  a  description  of  all  the  crim- 
inals that  ever  entered  the  Kansas  peni- 
tentiary. I  was  asked  if  I  was  a  married  man, 
how  many  children  I  had,  and  how  much 
property  I  possessed.  These  questions  were 
easily  answered.  After  the  deputy  warden 
had  discharged  his  duty  he  retired.  I  soon  dis- 
covered that  it  was  according  to  the  rules  of 
the  prison  for  the  officers  to  talk  in  a  harsh  and 
abrupt  manner  to  the  prisoners.  This  ac- 
counted for  the  way  in  which  I  was  greeted  by 
the  deputy  warden,  who  is  the  disciplinarian  of 
the  prison.  I  may  say,  in  passing,  that  all  the 
harsh  manners  of  Mr.  Higgins  are  simply  bor- 
rowed for  the  occasion.  Away  from  the  pres- 
ence of  prisoners,  over  whom  he  is  to  exert  his 
influence,  there  is  not  to  be  found  a  more  pleas 
ant  and  agreeable  gentleman.  In  came  a  sec- 
ond official,  and,  in  the  same  gruff  manner,  said 
to  me,  "  Come  along."  I  followed  him  out  to 


MY  INITIATION   AND   CRIME.  2$ 

the  wash-house,  where  I  took  a  bath.  A  pris^ 
oner  took  my  measure  for  a  suit  of  clothes. 
After  he  had  passed  the  tape-line  around  me 
several  times,  he  informed  the  officer  that  I  was 
the  same  size  of  John  Robinson,  who  had  been 
released  from  the  penitentiary  the  day  before. 
"  Shall  I  give  him  John  Robinson's  clothes?  " 
asked  the  convict.  In  the  same  gruff  manner 
the  officer  said,  "  Yes,  bring  on  Robinson's  old 
clothes."  So  I  was  furnished  with  a  second- 
hand suit!  The  shoes  were  second-hand.  I 
am  positive  about  this  last  statement,  judging 
by  the  aroma.  After  I  had  been  in  the  peni- 
tentiary some  four  months,  I  learned  that  John 
Robinson,  whose  clothes  I  had  secured,  was  a 
colored  man.  Being  arrayed  in  this  suit  of 
stripes  I  was  certainly  "  a  thing  of  beauty." 
The  coat  was  a  short  blouse  and  striped  ;  the 
stripes,  white  and  black,  alternated  with  each 
other,  and  passed  around  the  body  in  a  horizon- 
tal way.  The  pantaloons  were  striped ;  the 
shirt  was  striped  ;  the  cap  was  striped.  In 
fine,  it  seemed  that  everything  about  that  pen- 
itentiary was  striped —  even  to  the  cats  !  Being 
dressed,  I  was  next  handed  an  article  that 
proved,  on  examination,  to  be  intended  for  a 
handkerchief.  It  was  covered  with  large  blue 


26  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

letters-.-  '  Leavenworth  Mills.  XXX  Flour," 
etc.  It  was  a  quarter  section  of  a  flour  sack! 
Nine  hundred  prisoners  very  soon  empty  a 
great  many  flour  sacks.  After  the  flour  has 
been  consumed  the  sack  is  cut  up  into  quarter 
sections,  washed,  hemmed  and  used  for  hand- 
kerchiefs. No  better  handkerchief  can  be 
.  invented.  They  are  stout,  stiff  and  durable  ! 
They  will  bear  all  manner  of  nasal  assaults  ! 
There  is  no  danger  of  blowing  them  into  atoms, 
and  the  officials  are  not  afraid  to  give  them  out 
to  convicts  sent  there  charged  with  the  use  of 
dynamite!  One  of  them  has  been  known  to 
last  a  prisoner  for  five  years. 

After  I  had  donned  my  suit  and  taken  pos- 
session of  my  handkerchief,  I  was  ordered  to 
fold  my  arms.  Prisoners  marching  in  ranks, 
or  going  to  and  fro  about  the  prison  enclosure, 
are  required  to  have  their  arms  in  this  posi- 
tion. The  object  is  to  prevent  them  from  pass- 
ing articles.  I  was  marched  to  the  building 
known  as  the  south  wing  of  the  cell  house.  In 
this  building,  which  is  two  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  long,  there  are  cells  for  the  accommodation 
of  five  hundred  convicts.  The  prisoners  who 
occupy  this  wing  work  in  the  shops  located 
above  ground,  and  within  the  prison  enclosure. 


MY   INITIATION   AND   CRIME.  2? 

The  officer  in  charge  conducted  me  to  cell  num- 
ber one.  Click  went  the  lock.  The  door  was 
pulled  open,  and  in  his  usual  style,  he  said,  "  Get 
in.  "  I  stepped  in.  Slam  went  the  door.  Click 
went  the  lock,  and  I  was  in  a  felon's  cell !  These 
rooms  are  about  four  feet  wide,  seven  feet  long, 
and  seven  feet  high.  In  many  of  the  cells  two 
men  are  confined.  These  rooms  are  entirely  too 
small  for  the  accommodation  of  two  prisoners. 
A  new  cell  house  is  being  built,  which,  when 
completed,  will  afford  sufficient  additional 
room  so  that  each  prisoner  can  have  a  cell. 
In  these  small  rooms  there  are  two  bunks  or 
beds  when  two  convicts  occupy  the  same  cell. 
The  bed-rack  is  made  of  iron  or  wood  slats, 
and  the  bed-tick  is  filled  with  corn-husks; 
the  pillow  is  also  filled  with  the  latter  ma- 
terial, and  when  packed  down  becomes  as 
hard  as  a  board.  When  the  beds  are  not 
in  use  they  are  fastened  to  the  side  of  the 
wall  with  a  small  chain.  When  down  and  in 
use  they  take  up  nearly  the  entire  space  of  the 
cell,  so  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  two  occu- 
pants to  pass  each  other  in  walking  to  and  fro. 
The  other  furniture  consists  of  a  small  tin 
bucket,  holding  about  two  quarts  of  water,  and 
a  wash-basin.  A  short-handled  broom  is  also 


28  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

found  in  one  corner  of  the  cell,  with  which  the 
convict  brushes  it  out  every  morning.  The 
walls  are  of  stone,  decorated  with  a  small  look- 
ing-glass and  a  towel.  Each  cell  contains  one 
chair  and  a  Holy  Bible.  There  is  no  rich 
Brussels  carpet  on  the  floor,  although  prison- 
ers are  allowed  one  if  they  furnish  it  themselves. 
No  costly  upholstered  furniture  adorns  these 
safe  retreats !  Nothing  in  that  line  is  to  be  dis- 
covered except  one  cane-bottomed  chair  for  the 
accommodation  of  two  prisoners,  so  that  when 
one  sits  on  the  chair  the  other  stands,  or  occu- 
pies a  seat  on  the  stocte  floor.  There  is  not 
room  for  two  chairs,  or  the  State  would  furnish 
another  chair.  These  roojns  are  built  of  stone. 
The  door  is  of  one-half  inch  iron  bars,  crossing 
each  other  at  right  angles,  leaving  small  spaces 
about  two  by  six  inches;  through  these  spaces 
come  the  air,  light  and  heat  for  the  health  and 
comfort  of  the  inmates.  When  I  entered  my 
cell  on  that  eventful  morning  I  found  it  occu- 
pied by  a  prisoner.  He  was  also  a  new  arrival ; 
he  had  preceded  me  about  an  hour.  When  I 
entered  he  arose  and  gave  me  his  chair,  tak- 
ing a  seat  on  the  floor  in  the  opposite  corner. 
After  I  had  been  locked  in,  before  going  away 
t*»e  officer  said,  "  Now  I  don't  want  you  fellows 


MY  INITIATION  AND   CRIME.  29 

to  get  to  talking,  for  that  is  not  permitted  in 
this  institution.  "  We  sat  in  silence,  surveying 
each  other;  in  a  few  moments  my  companion, 
seeing  something  in  my  personal  appearance 
that  caused  him  to  lose  his  self  control,  laughed. 
That  he  might  give  full  vent  to  his  laughing 
propensities,  and  not  make  too  much  noise,  he 
drew  from  his  pocket  his  quarter  section  of  a 
flour  bag  and  put  it  into  his  mouth.  He  soon 
became  as  red  in  the  face  as  a  lobster.  I  was 
curious,  of  course,  to  know  what  it  was  that 
pleased  him  so  much.  Rising  from  my  chair, 
going  to  the  door  and  looking  through  the 
openings  I  could  see  no  officer  near,  so  I  asked 
my  companion,  in  a  whisper,  what  it  was  that 
pleased  him  so.  It  was  with  difficulty  and 
after  several  trials  before  he  could  succeed  in 
telling  me  what  it  was  that  caused  him  to  be  so 
convulsed.  I  told  him  to  take  his  time,  cool  off 
gradually,  as  I  had  eighteen  months,  and  could 
wait  patiently.  At  last,  being  able  to  control 
his  feelings  sufficiently  to  tell  me,  in  the  midst 
of  his  outbursts  of  laughter,  he  said,  "  You 
look  just  like  one  of  them  zebras  in  Barnum's 
Circus!  "  When  my  attention  was  called  to  the 
matter,  sure  enough,  I  did  look  rather  striped, 
and  I,  amused  at  his  suggestion,  laughed  also. 


30  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

Soon  an  officer  came  gliding  around  in  front  of 
the  cell,  when  our  laughing  ceased.  My  com- 
panion was  a  young  fellow  from  Doniphan 
County.  He  got  drunk  and  tried  to  rob  an 
associate,  still  drunker,  of  a  twenty  dollar  gold 
piece.  He  was  arrested,  tried  and  convicted 
of  robbery,  receiving  a  sentence  of  one  year. 
Directly  an  officer  came,  took  him  out  of  my 
cell  and  conducted  him  to  another  department. 
All  alone,  I  sat  in  my  little  parlor  for  nearly  an 
hour,  thinking  over  the  past.  My  reverie  was 
at  length  broken  by  the  turning  of  my  door 
lock.  A  fresh  arrival  was  told  to  "  git  in." 
This  prisoner  had  the  appearance  of  just  having 
been  lassoed  on  the  wild  western  prairies. 
He  resembled  a  cow-boy.  His  whiskers  were 
long  and  sandy.  His  hair,  of  the  same  color, 
fell  upon  his  shoulders.  As  soon  as  the  officer 
had  gone  away  and  everything  had  become 
quiet,  I  asked  this  fellow  his  name.  "  Horse- 
rider,"  was  his  reply,  from  which  I  inferred 
that  he  was  a  horse-thief.  "  How  long  a  term 
have  you?  "  was  my  next  question.  "  Seven 
years,"  was  his  reply.  I  comforted  him  by 
saying  it  would  be  some  time  before  he  rode 
another  horse. 

next  part  of  the  programme  consisted 


MY   INITIATION   AND   CRIME.  31 

in  a  little  darkey  coming  in  front  of  our  cell 
with  a  rudely  constructed  barber's  chair.  The 
cell  door  opened,  and  an  officer  said  to  me,  as 
if  he  would  hit  me  with  a  club  the  next  moment, 
"  Git  out  of  there."  I  went  out.  Pointing  to 
the  barber's  chair,  he  said,  "  Squat  yourself  in 
that  chair."  I  sat  down.  "  Throw  back  your 
head."  I  laid  it  back.  It  was  not  long  be- 
fore my  raven  mustache  was  off,  and  my  hair 
cut  rather  uncomfortably  short  for  fly  time. 
After  this  tonsorial  artist  had  finished  his  work 
then  came  the  command  once  more,  "  Git  in." 
I  got  in.  It  now  came  Mr.  Horserider's  turn 
to  bid  a  long  farewell  to  his  auburn  locks.  He 
took  his  place  in  the  chair,  and  the  little  darkey, 
possibly  for  his  own  amusement,  cut  off  the 
hair  on  one  side  of  the  head  and  left  the  other 
untouched.  He  then  shaved  one  side  of  his  face 
without  disturbing  the  other.  At  this  moment 
the  bell  for  dinner  rang,  and  the  little  col- 
ored fellow  broke  away  and  ran  to  his  division, 
to  fall  in  ranks,  so  that  he  would  not  miss  his 
noon  meal.  Once  more  Mr.  Horserider  en- 
tered his  cell  and  we  were  locked  in.  A  more 
comical  object  I  never  beheld;  he  did  not  even 
possess  the  beauty  of  a  baboon;  he  might  cer- 
tainly have  passed  for  the  eighth  wonder  of  the 


32  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

world.  When  he  came  in  I  handed  him  the 
small  looking-glass  and  asked  him  how  he 
Kked  his  hair-cut.  Remember,  one  side  of  his 
head  and  face  was  shaved  close,  and  the  other 
covered  with  long  sandy  hair  and  beard.  Look- 
ing into  the  glass, he  exclaimed:  "  Holy  Moses! 
and  who  am  I,  anyway?  "  I  answered  his  ques- 
tion by  stating  that  he  favored  Mr.  What-Is-It. 
He  was  very  uneasy  for  a  time,  thinking  that 
he  was  going  to  be  left  in  that  condition.  He 
wanted  to  know  of  me  if  all  horse-thieves  of  the 
penitentiary  wore  their  hair  and  whiskers  in 
this  style.  I  comforted  him  all  I  could  by  im- 
parting the  information  that  they  did.  He  was 
much  relieved  when  the  darkey  returned  after 
dinner  and  finished  the  shaving. 

I  was  next  taken  out  of  my  cell  to  pass  a 
medical  examination.  Dr.  Mooney,  the  gen- 
tlemanly officer  in  charge  of  the  hospital,  put 
in  an  appearance  with  a  large  book  under  his 
arm  and  sat  down  by  a  table.  I  was  ushered 
into  his  presence.  He  began  asking  me  ques- 
tions, and  wrote  down  my  answers  in  his  book, 
which  proved  to  be  the  physician's  register. 

"  Have  you  any  decayed  teeth?"  was  his 
first  question. 

"No,  sir,"  was  my  reply. 


MY   INITIATION   AND   CRIME.  33 

"  Have  you  ever  lost  any  teeth?  " 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Have  you  ever  had  the  measles?  " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  Have  you  ever  had  the  mumps?  " 

11  Yes,  sir." 

"  Have  you  ever  had  the  chicken-pox?  " 

"  Yes,  sir. " 

"  Have  you  ever  had  the  thresh?  " 

Well,  I  didn't  know  what  was  meant  by  the 
thresh.  I  knew  that  I  had  been  "thrashed" 
a  great  many  times,  and  inferred  from  that 
fact  that  I  must  have  had  the  disease  at  some 
time  or  other  in  my  youth,  so  I  answered, 
"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Have  you  ever  had  the  itch?" 

"What  kind?"  said  I.  "The  old  fash- 
ioned seven  year  kind  ?  Y-e-s,  sir,  I  have 
had  it." 

He  then  continued  asking  me  questions,  and 
wanted  to  know  if  I  ever  had  a  great  many 
diseases,  the  names  of  which  I  had  never 
heard  before.  Since  I  catch  almost  every- 
thing that  comes  along,  I  supposed,  of  course, 
that  at  some  period  during  my  childhood, 
youth  or  early  manhood  I  had  suffered  from 
all  those  physical  ills,  so  I  always  answered, 

The  Twin  Hells  3 


34  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

"Yes,  sir."  He  wound  up  by  inquiring  ifl 
ever  had  a  stroke  of  the  horse  glanders.  I 
knew  what  was  meant  by  that  disease,  and  re- 
plied in  the  negative. 

He  then  looked  at  me  over  the  top  of  his 
spectacles,  and,  in  a  rather  doubting  maaner, 
said,  "  and  you  really  have  had  all  these  dis- 
eases ?  By  the  way,"  he  continued,  "are 
you  alive  at  the  present  moment  after  all 
that  you  have  suffered  ? "  Mr.  Mooney  is 
an  Irishman.  He  was  having  a  little  cold- 
blooded sport  at  my  expense.  Whenever  you 
meet  an  Irishman  you  will  always  strike  a 
budget  of  fun. 

His  next  question  was,  "  Are  you  a  sound 
man  ?  " 

My  reply  was  to  the  effect  that  I  was, 
physically,  mentally  and  morally.  So  he  wrote 
down  in  his  book  opposite  my  name  "  physi- 
cally and  mentally  a  sound  man."  He  said  he 
would  take  my  word  for  being  sound  morally, 
but  that  he  would  not  put  that  down  on  the 
books  for  the  present,  for  fear  there  might  be 
a  mistake  somewhere.  Before  discharging 
mo,  he  calmly  stated  that  I  would  make  a  good 
coal  minir.  All  the  prifton«rt  andergo  this 
medical  cross-examination. 


MY  INITIATION   AND   CRIME.  35 

After  I  had  run  the  doctor's  gauntlet,  I  was 
conducted  from  the  south  wing  of  the  cell- 
house  to  the  north  wing.  Here  I  met  for  the 
first  time  Mr.  Elliott,  who  has  charge  of  this 
building  during  the  daytime.  It  is  a  part  of 
this  highly  efficient  officer's  duty  to  cross-exam- 
ine the  prisoners  as  to  where  they  have  lived 
and  what  they  have  been  doing.  His  examina- 
tions are  very  rigid.  He  is  a  bright  man,  a 
good  judge  of  human  nature,  and  can  tell  a 
criminal  at  sight.  He  would  make  an  able 
criminal  lawyer.  He  is  the  prison  detective. 
By  means  of  these  examinations  he  often  ob- 
tains clues  that  lead  to  the  detection  of  the  per- 
petrators of  crime.  I  have  been  told  by  good 
authority  that  on  account  of  information  ob- 
tained by  this  official,  two  murderers  were  dis- 
covered in  the  Kansas  penitentiary,  and,  after 
their  terms  had  expired,  they  were  immediately 
arrested,  and,  on  requisition,  taken  back  to  the 
Eastern  States,  where  the  crimes  had  been 
committed,  and  there  tried,  convicted  and  pun- 
ished according  to  the  laws  of  those  States. 
After  I  had  been  asked  all  manner  of  questions 
by  tins  official,  he  very  kindly  informed  me  that 
I  came  to  the  penitentiary  with  a  bad  record. 
He  further  stated  that  I  was  looked  upon  as 


3$  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

one  of  the  worst  criminals  in  the  State  of  Kan- 
sas. This  information  was  rather  a  set-back  to 
me,  as  I  had  no  idea  that  I  was  in  possession 
of  any  such  record  as  that.  I  begged  of  him  to 
wait  a  little  while  before  he  made  up  his  mind 
conclusively  as  to  my  character,  for  there  might 
be  such  a  thing  as  his  being  mistaken.  There 
is  no  man  that  is  rendering  more  effective  serv- 
ice to  the  State  of  Kansas  in  the  way  of  bring- 
ing criminals  to  justice  than  Mr.  Elliott.  He 
has  been  an  officer  of  the  prison  for  nearly  nine 
years.  As  an  honest  officer  he  is  above  re- 
proach. As  a  disciplinarian  he  has  no  superior 
in  the  West. 

After  this  examination  I  was  shown  to  my 
cell.  It  was  now  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  of  my  first  day  in  prison.  I 
remained  in  the  cell  alone  during  the  entire 
afternoon.  Of  all  the  dark  hours  of  my  event- 
ful history,  none  have  been  filled  with  more 
gloom  and  sadness  than  those  of  my  first  day 
in  prison.  Note  my  antecedents — a  college 
graduate,  a  county  clerk,  the  president  of  a 
bank,  and  an  editor  of  a  daily  newspaper.  All 
my  life  I  had  moved  in  the  highest  circles  of 
society,  surrounded  by  the  best  and  purest  of 
both  sexes,  and  now,  here  I  was,  in  the 


MY  INITIATION  AND   CRIME.  37 

deplorable  condition  of  having  been  hurled 
from  that  high  social  position,  down  to  the 
low  degraded  plane  of  a  convict.  As  I  sat 
there  in  that  desolate  abode  of  the  disgraced, 
I  tried  to  look  out  down  the  future.  All  was 
dark.  For  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  that  sweet 
angel  we  call  hope  had  spread  her  wings  and 
taken  her  departure  from  me  forever.  The 
black  cloud  of  despair  seemed  settling  down 
upon  me.  But  very  few  persons  possess  the 
ability  to  make  any  thing  of  themselves  aftef 
having  served  a  term  in  the  penitentiary. 
Having  once  fallen  to  so  low  a  plane  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  rise  again.  Young  man, 
as  you  peruse  this  book,  think  of  these  things. 
Once  down  as  a  felon  it  is  a  miracle  if  one 
ever  regains  what  he  has  lost.  I  sat  brood- 
ing over  these  things  for  an  hour  or  more, 
when  my  manhood  asserted  itself.  Hope 
returned.  I  reasoned  thus  :  I  am  a  young 
man.  I  enjoy  good  health.  There  will  be 
only  a  few  months  of  imprisonment  and  then 
I  will  be  free.  I  thought  of  my  loving  wife, 
my  little  children,  my  aged  mother,  my  kind 
friends,  and  for  their  sake  I  would  not  yield 
to  dsspair.  Soliciting  the  aid  of  a  kind 
Heavenly  Father,  I  resolved  to  do  the  best  I 


38  THE   TWIN  HELLS. 

could  toward  regaining  what  I  had  lost.  My 
father  was  a  minister  of  the  gospel  for  fifty 
years  prior  to  his  death.  He  was  not  blessed 
with  much  of  this  world's  goods.  For  this 
reason  I  began  in  very  early  life  to  aid  myself. 
I  spent  seven  years  in  college  preparing  for 
the  struggles  that  awaited  me.  I  earned  every 
dollar  of  the  money  which  paid  my  expenses 
while  securing  my  education.  I  carried  the 
hod  to  assist  in  building  the  college  in  which  I 
afterward  graduated.  Few  men  can  truthfully 
make  this  statement  of  themselves.  While 
working  my  way  through  the  institution 
where  I  received  my  education,  I  learned  one 
useful  lesson — self  reliance.  I  learned  to 
depend  upon  my  own  efforts  for  success. 
Every  one  must  learn  this  useful  lesson  before 
he  can  become  anything  in  life.  After  I  had 
met  with  misfortune  and  found  myself  in  a 
prison  cell,  I  was  glad  that  I  had  learned  to 
rely  upon  my  own  efforts. 

The  question:  "  What  shall  I  do  in  the  fut- 
ure? "  now  came  to  me.  That  afternoon  I  laid 
my  plans  which  I  would  carry  out  out  in  the 
years  to  come.  1  was  financially  ruined  in  the 
great  battle  I  carried  on  with  the  Atchison 
ring.  I  was  aw  are  of  the  fact  that,  when  I  got  out 


MY  INITIATION  AND  CRIME.          39 

of  the  penitentiary,  all  the  money  that  I  would 
have  with  which  to  make  another  start  in  life 
would  be  five  dollars.  The  United  States  pre- 
sents her  prisoners,  when  discharged,  with  a 
suit  of  citizen's  clothes  and  five  dollars.  This 
was  my  capital.  What  could  I  do  with  five 
dollars,  in  the  way  of  assisting  me  in  getting 
another  financial  foot-hold  in  life?  After  my 
release  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  do  some- 
thing at  once  to  get  money.  It  never  entered 
my  mind  to  borrow.  It  will  be  interesting  to 
the  reader  to  know  what  I  did,  after  my  prison 
days  were  past,  to  make  a  "quick  raise."  Six- 
teen months  of  imprisonment  slipped  away. 
I  regained  my  liberty  on  Monday.  I  received 
my  five  dollars  and  immediately  started  for  my 
home,  in  Atchison.  On  my  arrival,  Monday 
night,  I  had  four  dollars  and  ten  cents.  On 
Tuesday  morning  I  went  to  the  proprietor  of 
the  Opera  House,  in  Atchison,  and  inquired 
how  much  money  was  necessary  to  secure  the 
use  of  the  building  for  the  next  evening. 
"  Fifty  dollars,"  was  his  reply.  I  gave  him  all 
the  money  I  had,  and  persuaded  him  to  trust 
me  for  the  rest  I  informed  him  that  I  was 
going  to  deliver  a  lecture  on  my  prison  life. 
He  asked  if  I  thought  anybody  would  come  to 


40  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 


a  convict  talk.  In  answer,  I  told  htm 
that  was  the  most  important  question  that  was 
agitating  my  mind  at  the  present  moment,  and 
if  he  would  let  me  have  the  use  of  the  Opera 
House  we  would  soon  settle  that  question.  I 
further  told  him  that  if  the  receipts  of  the 
evening  were  not  enough  to  pay  him  for  the 
use  of  the  house,  that  I  would  pay  him  as  soon 
as  possible.  He  let  me  have  the  use  of  the 
house.  I  advertised  in  the  daily  papers  of  the 
city  that  I  would  lecture  in  the  Opera  House 
the  following  evening  on  my  prison  life,  — 
admission  fifty  cents.  I  thought  if  the  good 
people  wanted  to  come  at  all  they  would  come 
even  if  they  had  to  pay  well  for  it.  I 
was  very  restless  from  the  morning  that  I 
engaged  the  Opera  House  until  the  next 
evening,  at  which  time  I  was  to  speak.  I 
did  not  know  whether  I  would  have  any 
audience.  If  not,  I  was  fifty  dollars  deepen- 
in  debt.  The  evening  for  the  lecture  came,  I 
went  to  the  Opera  House  prepared  to  interest 
anyone  that  might  put  in  an  appearance;  I  en- 
tered the  building  in  the  rear,  and  took  my  po- 
sition on  the  platform.  The  signal  was  given 
and  up  went  the  curtain.  I  was  highly  pleased 
when  I  saw  my  audience.  The  building  was 


MY  INITIATION  AND   CRIME.  41 

j^acked.  The  lecture  was  a  financial  suc- 
cess. In  this  manner  I  secured  a  nice 
"  stake  "  for  furture  use.  I  delivered  that  lect- 
ure for  several  weeks  in  Kansas,  and  made  a 
thousand  dollars  above  expenses.  To  return 
to  my  first  afternoon  in  the  cell.  I  thought  of 
another  scheme.  I  conceived  the  idea  that  a 
book  about  a  penitentiary,  giving  its  history, 
and  also  the  history  of  many  of  the  leading 
criminals,  modes  of  punishment,  escapes,  etc., 
would  be  very  interesting,  and  would  sell.  I 
decided  to  write  such  a  book  while  in  prison. 
In  order  to  write  a  book  it  became  necessary 
to  have  writing  material.  How  was  I  to  se- 
cure this?  It  was  against  the  prison  regula- 
tions for  a  prisoner  to  have  a  lead-pencil  or 
scrap  of  paper.  The  officials  were  very  strict 
on  this  point.  It  was  essential  they  should  be. 
If  the  prisoners  could  pass  notes,  it  would  not 
be  long  before  a  prison  insurrection  would  be 
the  result.  The  plan  that  I  adopted  to  secure 
writing  material  was  rather  unique,  and  per- 
haps the  reader  will  like  to  know  how  I  man- 
aged this  difficult  matter.  It  is  wonderful  what 
a  man  can  accomplish,  with  adverse  surround- 
ings, if  he  wills  it.  As  I  have  stated  before,  I 
had  much  to  do  in  securing  the  election  of 


42  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

Hon.  W.  D.  Gilbert  to  the  district  judgeship. 
This  made  him  feel  very  kind  toward  me.  He 
came  often  to  visit  me  at  the  prison.  One 
day  while  visiting  me,  I  asked  him  to  use  his 
influence  with  the  warden  to  secure  for  me  the 
privilege  of  having  writing  material  in  my  cell. 
"  What  do  you  want  with  writing  material," 
said  he.  The  answer  I  gave  was,  that  I  might 
pass  away  my  leisure  hours  in  learning  to  write 
short-hand.  He  called  on  Warden  Smith,  and 
got  his  consent.  He  told  the  warden  that  if  I 
would  master  this  useful  art  while  in  prison,  on 
my  release,  he  would  appoint  me  his  district 
court  reporter,  at  a  salary  of  $2,500  a 
year.  The  scheme  was  a  success.  I  sent 
and  got  my  short-hand  books  and  writing 
material.  I  mastered  short-hand,  and  can 
now  write  as  fast  as  one  would  care  to  dictate. 
It  was  not  long  before  I  began  writing  my 
book  in  short-hand.  The  officials,  as  was  their 
custom,  would  examine  my  cell  daily  to  see  if 
anything  had  crept  in  that  did  not  belong 
there.  They  could  not  read  short-hand.  They 
did  not  know  what  so  many  little  straight 
marks  and  curves  indicated.  I  persevered,  and 
one  month  before  my  time  expired  I  had  my 
book  completed,  and  sent  it  out  by  a  friend 


MY  INITIATION  AND  CRIME.  43 

who  visited  the  prison,  who  kept  it  for  me 
until  I  secured  my  liberty.  As  before  stated, 
I  lectured  until  I  got  money  sufficient,  and  then. 
I  published  my  first  book  on  prisons,  giving  it 
the  impressive  title  of"  A  Kansas  Hell."  This 
book  sold  rapidly,  and  soon  the  first  edition 
was  disposed  of.  I  made  enough  money  out 
of  this  book  to  place  me  on  my  feet,  finan- 
cially. But,  to  return  to  my  cell  the  first  after- 
noon. I  remained  alone  until  time  for  the  pris- 
oners to  come  in  from  their  work,  when  I  found 
that  I  was  to  have  a  "  life  man  "  for  my  cell- 
mate, whose  name  was  Woodward  R.  Lope- 
man.  I  have  given  his  history  in  a  subsequent 
chapter.  I  remained  in  my  cell  during  the 
evening,  until  the  prison  bell  rang  for  retiring. 
Strange  to  say,  after  going  to  bed,  I  soon  fell 
asleep,  and  did  not  awake  until  the  prison  bell 
rang  on  the  following  morning.  When  I  did 
awake,  it  was  to  find  myself,  not  in  my  own 
pleasant  little  home  in  the  city  of  Atchison, 
Kansas,  but  in  afelon'scell.  I  arose  and  dressed, 
and  then  waited  and  wondered  what  would  be 
the  next  thing  on  the  programme. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    COAL   MINES. 

I  WAS  next  taken  to  the  coal  mines.  These 
mines  are  located  just  outside  of  the  prison 
enclosure,  and  are  surrounded  by  high  stone 
walls  and  stone  buildings,  which,  by  their  loca- 
tion, take  the  place  of  walls.  The  coal  yards 
are  separated  from  the  prison  campus  by  a 
partition  wall,  which  constitutes  the  south  wall 
of  the  coal  department  and  the  north  wall  of 
the  prison. 

Passing  from  one  of  these  departments  to 
the  other,  through  a  large  gateway,  the  gate 
being  kept  by  a  convict,  an  old  man  who 
murdered  his  son,  and  who  has  a  life  sentence. 
Reader,  how  would  you  like  to  spend  your  en- 
tire life,  day  after  day,  week  after  week,  month 
after  month,  year  after  year,  in  the  monotonous 
employment  of  opening  and  closing  a  large 
gate?  When  my  escort  and  myself  reached 
the  mines,  I  was  placed  in  charge  of  Mr. 
Dodds,  the  official  in  control  of  the  mines  at 
the  surface.  Mr.  Dodds  is  a  very  competent 
officer,  and  has  been  on  duty  at  that  plac«  more 


THE  COAL  MINES.  45 

thwn  twenty  years.  From  this  officer  I  received 
a  mining  cap.  This  piece  of  head-wear  was 
turban-shaped,  striped,  of  course,  with  a  leather 
frontlet,  on  which  was  fastened  the  mining 
lamp.  This  lamp,  in  shape,  resembled  an  ordi- 
nary tea-pot,  only  it  was  much  smaller.  In 
place  of  the  handle  was  a  hook,  which  fastened 
to  the  leather  frontlet.  The  bowl  of  the  lamp 
contained  the  oil ;  a  wick  passes  up  through 
the  spout,  at  the  end  of  which  is  the  light.  The 
miner  carrying  his  lamp  in  this  position  has  it 
out  of  his  way.  With  the  cap  on  my  head  and 
lamp  lighted,  I  stood  on  the  verge  of  a  ten  by 
twelve  hole  in  the  earth,  that  was  almost  eight 
hundred  feet  deep.  We  think  that  a  well  one 
hundred  feet  deep  is  quite  a  distance  down  into 
the  ground,  but  here  was  a  hole  eight  times 
deeper.  In  the  mining  vernacular  this  hole  is 
termed  a  shaft — the  term  that  will  be  employed 
in  speaking  of  it  hereafter.  There  are  two  of 
these  shafts,  about  one  hundred  yards  apart. 
Each  shaft  is  divided  by  a  wooden  partition 
which  descends  from  the  top  to  the  bottom. 
Two  elevators,  or  cages,  as  they  are  called, 
ascend  and  descend  along  the  shaft.  While 
one  cage  is  coming  up  the  other  is  going 
down.  They  derive  their  motor  ^oower  from 


46  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

two  large  engines,  one  for  each  shaft.  The 
officer  in  charge  inquired,  before  making  my 
descent  into  the  mines,  if  I  ever  fainted. 
"  Never,"  was  my  reply.  Persons  sometimes 
faint  in  going  down  this  shaft.  "  Step  into  the 
cage,"  was  the  order  given.  I  obeyed,  and, 
reaching  up,  took  hold  of  some  iron  bars  that 
went  across  the  top.  The  signal  was  given, 
down  I  started.  After  I  had  descended  a  few 
feet  a  current  of  air  coming  up  from  below  put 
out  my  light,  which  left  me  in  the  darkness  of 
an  Egyptian  night.  Down,  down,  down  I 
went.  There  are  a  great  many  things  in  life 
that  I  have  forgotten.  There  are  a  great  many 
more  that  I  expect  to  forget,  but  that  first  ride 
down  the  coal  shaft  I  never  can  forget.  Thug! 
I  had  struck  bottom.  It  is  said  that  when  one 
starts  down  hill  in  this  world  he  keeps  on  going 
until  he  strikes  bottom.  My  readers  will  cer- 
tainly agree  with  me  that  reaching  a  resting 
place  eight  hundred  feet  under  the  surface  I 
had  found  the  lowest  round  of  the  ladder. 
Whatever  I  may  be  in  the  future,  to  whatever 
heights  I  may  ascend,  I  shall  not  forget  that 
my  starting  point  was  nearly  a  thousand  feet 
under  the  Kansas  penitentiary.  Water  seeks 
its  level.  You  may  force  one  below  the  sur- 


THE  COAL  MINES.  47 

fkce,  and  to  whatever  depth  you  please,  to  the 
extent  of  your  power,  but  if  he  does  not  belong 
there,  you  cannot  keep  him  down  :  in  the 
course  of  time  he  will  rise. 

It  was  six  long,  dreary  months  before  I  was 
able  to  reach  the  first  round  in  the  ladder. 
Through  that  period  I  lay  in  the  penitentiary 
mines,  or  at  the  bottom  of"  The  Kansas  Hell. " 
It  is  said  the  old  fashioned  Hell  has  fire  and 
brimstone;  while  the  "  Kansas  Hell"  has  no 
fire,  one  thing  is  certain,  it  has  plenty  of  mate- 
rial out  of  which  to  make  it,  and  an  abundant 
supply  of  sulphur. 

At  the  end  of  my  descent  I  found  an  officer 
there  on  duty.  He  told  me  to  step  off  and 
occupy  a  seat  on  a  small  bench  near  by.  He 
desired  to  impart  some  information.  He  ad- 
vised me  that  while  I  was  there,  a  convict,  it 
would  not  be  proper  to  assume  the  warden's 
privileges  or  endeavor  to  discharge  his  duties. 
In  other  words,  the  best  thing  to  do  was  to 
keep  my  place,  revolve  about  in  my  own  orbit, 
carefully  regarding  all  laws,  both  centripetal 
and  centrifugal;  otherwise,  I  might  burst  by 
the  natural  pr*sture  of  too  highly  confined  in- 
terior forces!  I  confeii  that,  though  not  sub- 
ject to  such  infliction,  I  very  nearly  fainted  over 


4»  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

these  ponderous  polysyllables!  He  also  in- 
formed me  that  the  beautifully  paved  highway 
to  popularity  in  the  coal  mines  was  to  excavate 
large  quantities  of  the  carboniferous  substance 
contained  in  the  subterranean  passages  of  the 
mine;  the  more  coal  I  got  outthe  more  popular 
would  I  be! 

After  his  lecture  was  over  the  officer  gave  a 
low  whistle,  and  out  from  a  dark  recess  there 
emerged  a  convict  in  his  stripes.  His  face  and 
hands  were  covered  with  coal  dust.  He  came 
out  grinning,  showing  his  white  teeth.  As  I 
caught  sight  of  him  I  thought,  surely,  this  is  a 
fiend  from  the  lower  regions.  Take  one  of 
those  prisoners  with  his  striped  clothes,  a  light 
burning  on  his  head,  his  face  black  and  shining 
like  ebony,  behold  him  in  the  weird  darkness 
of  the  mines,  and  if  he  does  not  call  to  your 
mind  the  picture  of  one  of  the  imps  of  Eternal 
Night  there  is  nothing  in  this  world  that  will 
This  prisoner  was  the  runner  or  messenger  for 
this  officer  at  the  foot  of  the  shaft.  Hack  offi 
cer  in  the  penitentiary  who  has  charge  of  a 
division  of  men  has  a  messenger  to  ran  errands 
for  him.  When  this  messenger  Game  up  to  the 
officer  he  made  his  obeisanc*.  Convicts  are 
taught  to  observe  good  mannersinthepressttC* 


THE    COAL   MINES.  ,£ 

of  the  officials.  He  was  told  to  take  i  to 
another  officer  in  a  distant  part  of  the  ns/hes, 
a  Mi.  Johns,  who  would  give  me  work. 
From  the  foot  of  the  shaft  there  go  out  in 
almost  all  directions,  roadways  or  "entries." 
These  underground  roadways  arc  about  six 
feet  in  width  and  height.  I  could  walk  erect 
in  most  of  them.  Along  these  entries  was  a 
car  track,  over  which  the  small  coal  cars  pass  to 
and  from  the  rooms  where  the  coal  is  taken 
out,  to  the  shaft,  and  hoisted  to  the  top  with 
their  load  of  coal.  Some  of  these  entries  ex- 
tend more  than  a  mile  out  into  the  earth  from 
the  base  of  the  shaft.  As  my  fellow-prisoner 
and  I  were  passing  along  one  of  these  roadways 
to  the  place  whej-e  I  was  to  work,  he  asked  me 
my  name  and  the  nature  of  my  offense.  At 
this  place  let  me  inform  the  reader  that  the 
prisoners  ari  given  permission  to  converse  with 
each  other  in  the  mines.  Their  instructions  are 
to  the  effect  that  they  are  not  to  talk  about  any- 
thing but  their  work,  but  in  the  penitentiary  the 
same  rule  holds  good  as  on  the  outside:  "  Give 
a  man  an  inch  and  he  will  take  a  yard."  So, 
when  permission  is  given  to  the  convict  to  talk 
about  his  work,  he  talks  about  everything  else. 
In  answer  to  my  escort's  question  as  to  the 

The  Twin  Hells  4 


50  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

length  of  my  sentence,  I  informed  him  that  I 
had  eighteen  months.  He  dryly  remarked  that 
was  nothing,  and  if  the  judge  who  sent  me  up 
could  not  give  me  a  longer  term  than  that,  he 
should  have  sent  me  home  to  my  family.  He 
also  remarked  that  he  was  afraid  I  would  get 
into  trouble  in  the  mines  on  account  of  my 
short  sentence.  There  were  a  great  many  long- 
term  fellows  down  there,  who  were  envious  of 
short-term  men,  and  were  likely  to  put  up  jobs 
on  them  by  reporting  their  mistakes  and  viola- 
tions of  regulations  to  the  officer  in  charge,  and 
thus  get  them  punished.  I  informed  my  guide 
that  I  thought  I  would  get  along  some  way 
with  the  prisoners,  and  keep  out  of  trouble.  I 
then  inquired  of  him  as  to  the  length  of  his 
sentence. 

"  Twenty-five  stretches,"  was  his  reply.  I 
did  not  know  what  he  meant  by  the  term 
"  stretches,"  and  asked  for  information.  "  That 
is  the  prison  term  for  years,  a  stretch  mean- 
ing a  year,"  was  his  reply.  I  learned  th?t 
my  companion,  having  twenty-five  stretches, 
was  carrying  about  with  him  a  twenty-five 
years'  sentence.  A  quarter  of  a  century  in 
prison!  This  was  a  young  man.  He  had 
been  in  the  prison  for  three  years.  When 


THE   COAL   MINES.  51 

he  entered  this  living  tomb  he  had  the  bloom 
of  youth  upon  his  cheek.  When  he  goes  out, 
at  the  end  of  his  term,  if  he  lives  so  long,  he 
will  be  an  old,  broken  down  man.  He  will 
not  be  likely  to  live  that  long.  The  average 
life  of  a  convict  is  but  fourteen  years  under 
the  most  favorable  surroundings,  but  in  the 
coal  mines  it  cannot  exceed  five  years  at 
most. 

Let  me  tell  you  of  this  man's  crime,  and 
then  you  can  determine  for  yourself  how  easy 
it  is  to  get  in  the  penitentiary.  This  young 
fellow  is  the  son  of  one  of  the  most  respectable 
farmers  in  the  State.  He  attended  a  dance 
one  night  in  company  with  some  of  the  neigh- 
bor boys  at  a  village  near  by.  While  there, 
he  got  under  the  influence  of  strong  drink, 
became  involved  in  a  quarrel  over  one  of  the 
numbers  with  the  floor  managers,  and  in  the 
fight  that  ensued  he  drew  his  knife  and  dis- 
emboweled the  man  with  whom  he  was  fight- 
ing. In  a  few  moments  the  wounded  man 
died.  The  young  fellow  was  tried,  convicted 
of  murder,  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for 
twenty-five  years  at  hard  labor.  It  is  awful 
to  contemplate.  Young  man,  as  you  read 
this,  had  you  not  better  make  up  your  mind 


52  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

to  go  rather  slow  in  pouring  whisky  down 
your  throat  in  future? 

As  we  passed  along  through  the  mines  I 
thought  about  that  word  "  stretch,"  and  as  I 
did  not  like  the  idea  of  having  jobs  put  up  on 
me,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I  would  render 
myself  popular  by  telling  the  prisoners  in  the 
mines  who  might  ask  me  as  to  my  sentence, 
that  I  had  eighteen  "  stretches."  I  did  not 
think  that  calling  a  month  a  "  stretch  "  would 
be  "  stretching "  my  conscience  to  such  a 
degree  as  to  cause  me  any  particular  distress, 
for  I  knew  that  by  the  time  I  had  served  out  a 
month  it  would  seem  equivalent  to  a  year  on 
the  outside. 

After  following  along  the  entry  for  some 
distance,  almost  a  mile,  we  came  to  that  por- 
tion of  the  mines  where  I  was  to  work.  Com- 
ing up  to  the  place  where  the  officer  was 
seated,  the  headquarters  of  this  division,  my 
guide  made  a  low  bow,  and  informed  the  offi- 
cer in  charge  that  he  had  brought  him  a  man. 
Then  bowing  himself  out,  he  returned  to  his. 
place  at  the  foot  of  the  shaft. 

The  officer  in  whose  division  I  was  to  work 
now  signaled  his  messenger,  and  there  came 


THE   COAL   MINES.  53 

out  of  the  darkness  another  convict,  stripes, 
cap,  lamp  and  all. 

"  Get  Reynolds  a  set  of  mining  tools,"  said 
the  officer. 

These  were  soon  brought,  and  consisted  of 
a  pick,  a  short-handled  shovel,  two  iron  wedges 
and  a  sledge  hammer. 

"  Take  him,"  said  the  officer,  "  to  room 
number  three,  and  tell  George  Mullen,  who  is 
working  in  that  room,  to  teach  him  how  to 
mine." 

I  got  my  arms  around  those  implements  of 
coal  warfare,  and  following  my  escort,  passed 
along  the  entry  for  some  distance,  possibly  two 
hundred  yards,  when  the  roadway  in  which  we 
were  walking  suddenly  terminated,  and  instead, 
there  was  a  small  hole  that  went  further  on 
into  the  earth.  When  we  came  to  this  place 
my  guide  dropped  down  on  his  hands  and 
knees  and  passed  into  the  room.  I  halted.  I 
had  never  been  in  such  a  place  before.  I  did 
not  know  what  there  was  in  that  dark  hole. 
Soon  my  escort  called  out,  "  Come  along, 
there  is  nothing  in  here  to  hurt  you. "  Sol 
dropped  down  on  my  hands  and  knees  and 
into  the  dark  hole  I  went. 

These    rooms  where   the  miners   work  are 


54  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

about  twenty-eight  inches  in  height,  twenty- 
four  inches  wide,  and  about  fifty  feet  long. 
Think  of  working  in  such  a  place  as  that!  Oh, 
how  often  have  I  sighed  for  room  enough  to 
spread  myself!  Haw  I  would  have  made  that 
coal  fly  had  the  vein  been  on  top  where  I  could 
have  stood  on  my  feet  and  mined.  George 
Mullen,  the  convict  who  was  to  teach  me  to 
mine,  was  at  the  farther  end  of  the  room  at 
work  when  we  entered.  We  crawled  on  our 
hands  and  knees  to  him,  and  when  my  guide 
had  delivered  his  message  he  withdrew  and 
hastened  back  to  his  headquarters  near  the 
stand  where  his  officer  sat. 

After  he  had  gone  and  my  room-mate  and 
myself  were  left  alone,  about  the  first  question 
that  George  asked  me  was,  "  How  long  have 
you  got?  " 

"  Eighteen  stretches,"  was  my  quick  reply. 

George  loved  me  dearly  from  that  moment. 
I  very  soon  discovered  that  I  was  very  popular 
with  him  on  account  of  my  long  sentence. 

"  How  long  are  you  in  for?  "  said  I  to  him. 

"Always,"  was  his  answer. 

He  was  a  life  prisoner.  At  one  time  he  was 
marshal  of  a  Kansas  town,  and  while  acting  in 
that  capacity  he  killed  his  man.  He  was  try- 


THE    COAL   MINES.  53 

ing  to  arrest  him,  so  he  informed  me,  and  the 
fellow  showed  fight,  when  he  took  out  his  gun 
and  shot  him.  It  was  claimed  by  the  author- 
ities that  the  shooting  was  unprovoked,  and 
that  the  man  could  have  been  arrested  without 
killing  him.  Aside  from  the  fact  that  he  had 
killed  his  man,  I  must  say  that  I  never  met  a 
man  for  whom  I  had  a  higher  regard.  He  was 
very  kind  to  me,  very  patient,  and  made  my 
work  as  easy  for  me  as  he  possibly  could.  I 
remained  with  him  for  nearly  a  month,  when, 
having  learned  the  business,  I  was  taken  to 
another  part  of  the  mines  and  given  a  task. 

"  Have  you  ever  mined  any  ?  "  inquired  my 
instructor. 

"  No  ;  I  never  was  in  a  coal  mine  before 
coming  here." 

He  then  gave  me  my  first  lesson  in  mining. 
I  lay  on  my  right  side  in  obedience  to  his  orders, 
stretched  out  at  full  length.  The  short-handled 
shovel  was  inverted  and  placed  under  my  right 
shoulder.  This  lifted  my  shoulder  up  from  the 
ground  a  little  distance  and  I  was  thus  enabled 
to  strike  with  my  pick.  The  vein  of  coal  is 
about  twenty-two  inches  in  thickness.  We 
would  mine  out  the  dirt,  or  fire  clay  as  it  was 
called,  from  under  the  coal  to  the  distance  of 


50  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

two  feet,  or  the  length  of  a  pick-handle,  and  to 
the  depth  of  some  six  inches.  We  would  then 
set  our  iron  wedges  in  al>ove  the  vein  of  coal, 
and  with  the  sledge  hammer  would  drive  them 
in  until  the  coal  would  drop  down.  Imagine 
my  forlorn  condition  as  Hay  there  in  that  small 
room.  It  was  as  dark  down  there  as  night  but 
for  the  feeble  light  given  out  by  the  mining 
lamp;  the  room  was  only  twenty-eight  inches 
from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling,  and  then  above 
the  ceiling  there  were  eight  hundred  feet  of 
mother  earth.  Two  feet  from  the  face  of  the 
coal,  and  just  back  of  where  I  lay  when  mining, 
was  a  row  of  props  that  held  up  the  roof  and 
kept  it  from  falling  in  upon  me.  The  loose 
dirt  which  we  picked  out  from  under  the  coal 
vein  was  shoveled  back  behind  the  props.  This 
pile  of  dirt,  in  mining  language,  is  called  the 
"gob."  I  began  operations  at  once.  I  worked 
away  with  all  my  might  for  an  hour  or  more, 
picking  out  the  dirt  from  under  the  coal.  Then 
I  was  tired  completely  out.  I  rolled  over  on 
my  back,  and,  with  ray  face  looking  up  to  the 
pile  of  dirt,  eight  hundred  feet  thick,  that  shut 
out  from  me  the  light  of  day,  I  rested  for 
awhile.  I  had  done  no  physical  work  for 
ten  years.  I  was  physically  soft.  To  put 


THE   COAL   MINES.  57 

me  down  in  the  mines  and  set  me  to  dijging 
coal  was  wicked.  It  was  murder.  Down  in 
that  dark  pit  how  I  suffered!  There  was  no 
escape  from  it.  There  was  the  medicine.  I 
had  to  take  it.  I  do  not  know,  but  it  seems  ta 
me  that  when  a  man  is  sent  to  that  prison  who 
has  not  been  in  the  habit  of  performing  physi» 
cal  labor,  he  should  not  be  put  to  work  in  tht 
mines  until  he  becomes  accustomed  to  manual 
labor.  It  would  seem  that  it  would  be  nothing 
more  than  right  to  give  him  an  easier  task  at 
first  and  let  him  gradually  become  hardened 
to  his  work  at  coal  digging.  Nothing  of  this 
kind  is  done.  The  young,  the  old,  the  middle- 
aged  are  indiscriminately  and  unceremoniously 
thrust  into  the  mine.  Down  there  are  nearly 
five  hundred  prisoners.  Among  them  are 
boys  from  seventeen  to  twenty  years  of  age, 
many  of  whom  are  in  delicate  health.  Here 
are  to  be  found  old  men,  in  some  cases  sixty 
years  of  age.  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood 
as  casting  any  reflections  upon  the  officers  of 
this  institution.  They  cannot  help  these 
things.  If  Warden  Smith  could  avoid  it  there 
would  not  be  a  single  man  sent  down  to  that 
region  of  death.  The  mines  are  there  and 
must  be  worked.  Let  this  blame  fall  where  it 


58  THE  TWIN   HELLS 

belongs.  I  must  say  injustice  to  our  common 
humanity,  that  to  work  these  two  classes,  the 
boys  and  old  men,  in  those  coal  mines  is  a 
burning  shame  and  outrage.  It  is  bad  enough, 
as  the  sequel  will  show,  to  put  able-bodied, 
middle-aged  men  to  work  in  that  pit.  The 
great  State  of  Kansas  has  opened  those  mines. 
Her  Legislature  has  decided  to  have  them 
worked.  It  becomes  the  duty,  therefore,  of 
the  prison  directors  to  work  them  as  long  as 
they  are  instructed  to  do  so,  even  if  scores  of> 
human  beings  are  maimed  for  life  or  mur- 
dered outright  each  year.  The  blame  cannot 
rest  on  the  prison  officials,  but  upon  our  law- 
makers. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  COAL  MIXES  (Continued}. 

AFTER  we  had  mined  some  twenty-five 
ieet  we  took  down  the  coal.  To  do  this  the 
wedges  are  set  and  driven  in  at  the  top  of  the 
vein  of  coal,  with  the  sledge  hammer.  After  my 
companion  had  struck  the  coal  several  times  it 
began  to  pop  and  crack  as  if  it  would  fall  at  any 
moment.  I  became  alarmed.  I  was  never  in 
such  a  place  before,  and  I  said:  "  George,  had  I 
not  better  get  out  of  this  place?  I  don't  want 
the  coal  to  fall  on  me  the  first  clay.  "  His  reply 
was,  that  if  I  wanted  to  learn  how  to  mine  I 
must  remain  near  the  coal  and  take  my  chances 
of  being  killed.  This  was  indeed  comforting! 
Then  he  informed  me  that  he  was  going  to 
knock  on  the  coal  and  wanted  me  to  catch  the 
sound  that  was  produced.  He  thumped  a\\  ay, 
and  I  got  the  sound — a  dull,  heavy  thud.  Now, 
says  he,"  when  coal  sounds  in  that  manner  it  is 
not  ready  to  drop.  "  So  he  continued  to  pound 
away  at  it.  The  more  he  pounded  the  more 
the  coal  cracked  and  the  more  alarmed  I  be- 
came, I  was  afraid  it  would  drop  at  any  mo- 


60  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 


ment  and  crush  me.  I  begged  of  him  t,  / 
pounding  until  I  got  into  the  entry  out  of  the 
way  of  danger.  He  tried  to  make  me  believe 
there  was  no  danger.  I  was  hard  to  convince 
of  that  fact.  There  I  lay  stretched  out  on  my 
side  next  to  the  coal,  he  driving  in  the  wedges, 
and  the  coal  seeming  to  me  to  be  ready  to  drop 
at  each  stroke  of  the  hammer.  "  Now  listen,  H 
said  he,  "  while  I  knock  on  the  coal  once  more.  • 
I  listened.  The  sound  was  altogether  different 
from  the  first.  "  Now,"  said  he,  "  the  coal  is 
about  ready  to  fall."  It  is  necessary  for  the 
miner  to  know  this  part  of  his  business.  It  is 
by  the  sound  that  he  determines  when.it  is 
ready  to  fall.  If  he  is  ignorant  of  this  part  of 
his  work,  he  would  be  in  great  danger  of  get- 
ting killed  from  the  coal  falling  unexpectedly. 
"  Well,"  said  I,  "  if  this  coal  is  about  ready  to 
drop,  had  I  not  better  get  out  of  here  into  the 
entry,  so  that  I  may  be  out  of  danger?  "  "  No,  " 
was  his  reply;  "  just  crawl  up  behind  that  row 
of  props  and  remain  in  the  '  gob  '  until  after  the 
coal  falls."  In  obedience  to  his  command  I 
cheerfully  got  up  behind  the  props  and  em- 
braced that  pile  of  dirt.  He  struck  the  wedges 
a  few  more  blows  and  then  darted  behind  the 
props  out  of  danger.  No  sooner  had  he  got 


THE  COAL  MINES.  6 1 

out  of  the  way  than  the  coal  came  thundering 
down.  "  Now,"  said  my'room-mate  "  go  out 
into  the  entry  and  bring  in  the  buggy."  "  All 
right."  And  out  I  went  on  my  hands  and 
knees.  I  soon  found  my  way  into  the  entry, 
but  found  no  buggy;  so  back  I  crawled  into 
the  room  and  reported.  At  this  my  instructor 
crawled  out  to  see  what  had  become  of  that 
singular  vehicle  known  as  a  mining  buggy.  I 
followed  after.  I  did  not  want  to  remain  be- 
hind in  that  coal  mine.  I  did  not  know  what 
might  happen  should  I  be  left  there  in  that  dark 
hole  alone.  After  we  had  reached  the  entry 
where  we  could  stand  erect  my  teacher  pointed 
to  an  object  which  lay  close  to  our  feet,  and 
said  to  me,  "  Man,  where  are  your  eyes?  " 
"  In  my  head,"  I  calmly  replied.  "  Do  you 
see  that  thing  there?  "  "  Of  course  I  see  that 
thing."  "Well,  that  is  the  buggy."  "In- 
deed! "  I  exclaimed.  "  I  am  certainly  glad  to 
know  it,  for  I  never  would  have  taken  that  for 
a  buggy. "  It  had  a  pair  of  runners  which 
were  held  in  their  places  by  a  board  being 
nailed  across  them.  On  this  was  a  small  box; 
at  one  end  there  was  a  short  iron  handle.  On 
our  knees  we  pushed  the  buggy  into  the  room, 
took  up  the  hammer,  broke  up  th$  goal  into 


62  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

lumps  we  could  handle,  filled  up  the  small 
box,  dragged  it  out  into  the  entry  and  emp- 
tied it  into  a  heap.  This  is  called  "  buggying  '' 
coal.  It  is  the  most  laborious  part  of  mining. 
Whenever  a  new  man  would  be  placed  with 
the  convicts  for  instructions  in  mining  he 
would  have  to  buggy  coal  just  as  long  as  it 
was  possible  to  get  him  to  do  so.  After  a 
time,  however,  he  would  want  to  take  turn 
about  with  his  teacher. 

After  we  had  finished  getting  out  what  we 
had  down  the  noon  hour  had  arrived.  At  cer- 
tain places  in  the  entries  or  roadways  there  are 
large  wooden  doors  which,  when  shut,  close  up 
the  entire  passage.  These  doors  are  for  the 
regulations  of  the  currents  of  air  which  pass 
through  the  mines.  The  loud  noise  produced 
by  pounding  on  one  of  these  doors  was  the  sig- 
nal for  dinner.  It  was  now  noon.  Bang,  bang, 
bang,  bang,  went  the  door.  I  had  now  put  in 
one-half  day  of  my  sentence  in  the  mines.  Oh! 
the  many  long,  dreary,  monotonous  days  I 
passed  after  that!  At  the  call  for  dinner  the 
convict,  always  hungry,  suddenly  drops  his 
tools  and  makes  his  way  at  a  rapid  pace  along 
the  entry  until  he  comes  to  the  place  where  the 
division  officer  has  his  headquarters.  Arriving 


THE    COAL  MINES.  63 

at  this  place  each  convict  takes  his  position  in 
aline  with  his  fellow-convicts.  All  talking  now 
ceases.  They  sit  on  the  ground  while  eating, 
with  their  lower  limbs  crossed.  There  are  no 
soft  cushioned  chairs  on  which  the  tired  prisoner 
may  rest  his  weary  limbs.  When  seated,  a 
small  piece  of  pine  board,  about  a  foot  square, 
is  placed  across  his  knees:  This  is  the  table. 
No  table  cloth,  no  napkins,  no  table  linen  of  any 
kind.  Such  articles  as  these  would  paralyze  a 
convict!  Thus  seated  in  two  rows  along  the 
sides  of  the  entry,  with  their  mining  lamps 
lighted  and  hanging  in  their  caps,  they  present 
a  weird  and  interesting  sight.  The  dinner  had 
been  brought  down  from  the  top  about  an  hour 
before  on  coal  cars.  Three  of  the  prisoners 
are  now  detailed  to  act  as  waiters.  One  passes 
down  between  the  two  rows  of  convicts,  carry- 
ing in  his  hand  a  wooden  pail  filled  with  knives 
and  forks.  These  culinary  instruments  have 
iron  handles.  Were  they  made  of  wood  or 
horn,  the  convicts  would  soon  break  off  the 
handles  and  make  trinkets  out  of  them.  This 
waiter,  passing  along,  drops  a  knife  and  fork  on 
each  table.  He  is  followed  by  another  who 
drops  down  a  piece  of  corn  bread;  then  anothei 
with  a  piece  of  meat  for  each  man,  which  hi 


64  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

places  on  the  pine  board.  There  is  no  "  Please 
pass  the  meat,"  or  "  Hand  over  the  bread." 
Not  a  word  is  spoken.  After  the  knives  and 
forks  have  been  passed  around  this  waiter 
returns  and  gives  each  man  a  quart  of  water. 
This  is  dinner.  The  bill  of  fare  is  regular,  and 
consists  of  cold  water,  corn  bread  and  meat. 
Occasionally  we  have  dessert  of  cold  cabbage, 
or  turnips  or  cracked  corn.  When  we  have 
these  luxuries  they  are  given  to  us  in  rotation, 
and  a  day  always  intervenes  between  cabbage 
and  turnips.  In  the  coal  mines  the  prisoner 
never  washes  himself  before  eating.  Although 
he  gets  his  hands  and  face  as  black  as  the  coal 
he  has  been  digging,  yet  he  does  not  take  time 
to  wash  himself  before  eating.  Reader,  how 
would  you  like  to  dine  in  this  condition  ?  The 
old  saying  is,  we  must  all  eat  our  "  peck  of  dirt. " 
I  think  I  have  consumed  at  least  two  bushels 
and  a  half!  I  can  never  forget  my  first  meal 
in  the  mines.  I  was  hungry,  it  was  true,  but  I 
couldn't  manage  to  eat  under  the  circumstances. 
I  sat  there  on  the  ground,  and  in  silence  watched 
the  other  prisoners  eat.  I  thought,  "  You 
hogs !  I  can  never  get  so  hungry  as  to  eat  as 
you  are  now  eating."  In  this  I  was  mistaken. 
Before  ten  days  had  gone  by  I  could  eat  along 


THE    COAL  MINES.  65 

with  any  of  them.  The  first  day  I  thought  I 
would  do  without  my  dinner,  and  when  supper 
time  came  go  to  the  top  and  enjoy  a  fine  meal. 
I  imagined  that  after  digging  coal  all  day  they 
would  surely  give  us  a  good  meal  in  the  even- 
ing. My  mouth  "  watered  "  for  some  quail  on. 
toast,  or  a  nice  piece  of  tenderloin,  with  a  cup 
of  tea.  Think  of  my  surprise,  when  hoisted 
to  the  top  at  the  close  of  day,  after  marching 
into  the  dining-room  and  taking  our  places  at 
the  cable,  when  I  saw  all  that  was  put  before 
the  prisoners  was  a  piece  of  bread,  a  cup  of 
tea  without  sugar  or  milk,  and  two  tablespoon- 
fuls  of  sorghum  molasses.  It  did  not  require 
a  long  time  forme  to  dispose  of  the  molasses, 
as  I  was  very  hungry,  and  handed  up  my  cup 
for  an  additional  supply;  this  was  refused.  It 
is  considered  in  the  penitentiary  an  excess  of 
two  tablespoonfuls  of  sorghum  is  unhealthy! 
There  is  danger  of  its  burning  out  the  stomach! 
So  at  each  supper  after  that  I  had  to  get  along 
with  two  spoonfuls.  As  far  as  the  tea  was  con- 
cerned, it  was  made  of  some  unknown  material 
whose  aroma  was  unfamiliar  to  my  olfactory; 
the  taste  was  likewise  unfamiliar,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  these  peculiarities  of  the  prison  tea 
I  never  imbibed  of  it  but  the  one  time,  that 

The  Twin  Hall*  $ 


66  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

being  amply  sufficient  to  last  through  the  entire 
period  of  my  confinement.  From  that  day  on 
I  took  cold  water,  which,  after  all,  is  God's 
best  beverage  for  the  human  race.  The  pen- 
itentiary, so  far  as  I  know,  is  the  only  place  in 
the  State  of  Kansas  where  prohibition  actually 
works  prohibition  as  contemplated  by  the  laws 
of  the  State!  There  are  no  "  joints"  in  the  Pen. 
No  assistant  attorney  generals  are  necessary 
to  enforce  prohibition  there.  I  never  saw  a 
drunken  man  in  the  prison.  "  The  Striped 
Temperance  Society  of  Kansas  "  is  a  success. 
For  breakfast  in  the  prison  we  have  hash, 
bread,  and  a  tin  cup  of  coffee,  without  sugar  or 
milk;  no  butter,  no  meat.  The  hash  is  made 
of  the  pieces  of  bread  and  meat  left  over  from 
the  preceding  day.  We  had  it  every  day  in 
the  year  for  breakfast.  During  my  entire 
time  in  the  prison  I  had  nothing  for  breakfast 
but  hash.  One  day  I  was  talking  to  an  old 
murderer  who  had  been  there  for  eighteen 
years,  and  he  told  me  he  had  eaten  hash  for 
his  breakfast  during  his  entire  term  —  six  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  seventy  days.  I  looked 
at  the  old  man  and  wondered  to  myself  whether 
he  was  a  human  being  or  a  pile  of  hash,  hal/ 
concluding  that  he  was  the  latter! 


THE  €OAL  MINES.  67 

In  conversation  with  the  chaplain  of  the 
prison  I  received  the  following  anecdote,  which 
I  will  relate  for  the  benefit  of  my  readers.  It 
is  customary  in  the  prison,  after  the  Sunday 
exercises,  for  such  as  desire  to  remain  and 
hold  a  sort  of  class  meeting,  or,  as  some  call 
it,  experience  meeting.  In  one  of  these,  an 
old  colored  man  arose,  and  said:  "  Breddren, 
ebber  since  Ize  been  in  dis  prison  Ize  been 
tryin'  to  git  de  blessin';  Ize  prayed  God  night 
and  day.  Ize  rascelled  wid  de  Almighty  'till 
my  hips  was  sore,  but  Ize  nebbergot  it.  Some 
sez  its  la'k  ob  faith.  Some  itsla'kof  strength, 
but  I  bVeves  de  reason  am  on  'count  ob  de 
quality  ob  dis  hash  we  hab  ebbery  day!" 

Accidents  are  occurring  almost  daily. 
Scarcely  a  day  passes  but  what  some  man 
receives  injuries.  Often  very  severe  accidents 
happen,  and  occasionally  those  which  prove 
fatal.  Many  men  are  killed  outright.  These 
accidents  are  caused  by  the  roof  of  the  little 
room  in  which  the  miner  works  falling  in  upon 
him,  and  the  unexpected  drop  of  coal.  Of 
course  there  are  many  things  that  contribute  to 
accidents,  such  as  bad  machinery,  shafts,  dirt 
rolling  down,  landslides,  etc. 

One  day  there  was  a  fellow-prisoner  working 


68  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

in  the  room  adjoining  me;  he  complained  to 
the  mining  boss  that  he  did  not  want  to  go  into 
that  room  to  work  because  he  thought  it  was 
dangerous.  The  officer  in  charge  thought 
differently,  and  told  him  to  go  in  there  and  go 
to  work  or  he  would  report  him.  The  prisoner 
hadn't  been  in  the  place  more  than  a  half  hour 
before  the  roof  fell  and  buried  him.  It  took 
some  little  time  to  get  him  out.  When  the  dirt 
was  removed,  to  all  appearances  he  was  dead. 
He  was  carried  to  the  hospital  on  a  stretcher, 
and  the  prison  physician,  Doctor  Neeally, 
examined  him,  and  found  that  both  arms  were 
broken  in  two  places,  his  legs  both  broken, 
and  his  ribs  crushed.  The  doctor,  who  is  a 
very  eminent  and  successful  surgeon,  resusci- 
tated him,  set  his  broken  bones,  and  in  a  few 
weeks  what  was  thought  to  be  a  dead  man, 
was  able  to  move  about  the  prison  enclosure, 
although  one  of  his  limbs  was  shorter  than  the 
other,  and  he  was  rendered  a  cripple  for  life. 

On  another  occasion  a  convict  was  stand- 
ing at  the  base  of  the  shaft.  The  plumb-bob, 
a  piece  of  lead  about  the  size  of  a  goose  egg, 
accidentally  fell  from  the  top  of  the  shaft,  a 
distance  of  eight  hundred  feet,  and,  striking 


THE  COAL  MINES.  69 

this  colored  man  on  the  head,  it  mashed  his 
skull,  and  bespattered  the  walls  with  his  brains. 

I  had  three  narrow  escapes  from  death.  One 
day  I  lay  in  my  little  room  resting,  and  after 
spending  some  time  stretched  out  upon  the 
ground,  I  started  off  to  another  part  of  my 
room  to  go  to  work,  when  all  of  a  sudden  the 
roof  fell  in,  and  dropped  down  just  where  I  had 
been  lying.  Had  I  remained  a  minute  longer 
in  that  place,  I  would  have  been  killed.  As  it 
happened,  the  falling  dtbris  just  struck  my  shoe 
as  I  was  crawling  out  from  the  place  where  the 
material  fell. 

At  another  time  I  had  my  room  mined  out 
and  was  preparing  to  take  down  the  coal.  I 
set  my  v/edges  in  a  certain  place  above  the 
vein  of  coal  and  began  to  strike  with  my  sledge 
hammer,  when  I  received  a  presentiment  to  re- 
move my  wedges  from  that  place  to  another. 
Now  I  would  not  have  the  reader  believe  that 
I  was  in  any  manner  superstitious,  but  I  was  so 
influenced  by  that  presentiment  that  I  withdrew 
my  wedges  and  set  them  in  another  place; 
then  I  proceeded  to  strike  them  a  second  time 
with  the  sledge  hammer,  when,  unexpectedly, 
the  vain  broke  and  the  coal  fell  just  opposite 
to  where  my  head  was  resting,  and  came  within 


7O  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

an  inch  of  striking  it.  Had  I  remained  in  the 
place  where  I  first  set  my  wedges,  the  coal 
would  have  fallen  upon  me;  it  had  been  held 
in  its  place  by  a  piece  of  sulphur,  and  when  it 
broke,  it  came  down  without  giving  me  any 
warning. 

On  still  another  occasion,  my  mining  boss 
came  to  my  room  and  directed  me  to  go  around 
to  another  part  of  the  mine  and  assist  two 
prisoners  who  were  behind  with  their  work.  I 
obeyed.  I  hadn't  been  out  of  my  room  more 
than  about  half  an  hour  when  there  occured  a 
land-slide  in  it,  which  filled  the  room  entirely 
full  of  rock,  slate  and  coal.  It  required  several 
men  some  two  weeks  to  remove  the  amount  of 
debris  that  had  fallen  on  that  occasion.  Had 
I  been  in  there,  death  would  have  been  cer- 
tain at  that  time. 

Gentle  reader,  let  me  assure  you,  that  al- 
though some  persons  misunderstanding  me, 
assert  that  I  am  without  belief  in  anything,  yet 
I  desire  to  say,  when  reflecting  upon  these 
providential  deliverances,  that  I  believe  in  the 
Eternal  Will  that  guides,  directs,  controls  and 
protects  the  children  of  men.  While  many  of 
my  fellow-prisoners  were  maimed  for  life  and 
some  killed  outright,  I  walked  through  that 


THE  COAL   MINES.  7 1 

valley  and  shadow  of  death  without  even  a  hair 
of  my  head  being  injured.  Why  was  this?  My 
answer  is  the  following:  Over  in  the  State  of 
Iowa,  among  the  verdant  hills  of  that  beautiful 
commonwealth,  watching  the  shadows  as  they 
longer  grow,  hair  whitened  with  the  frosts  of 
many  seasons,  heart  as  pure  as  an  angel's,  re- 
sides my  dear  old  mother.  I  received  a  letter 
from  her  one  day,  and  among  other  things  was 
the  following: 

"  I  love  you  now  in  your  hour  of  humilia- 
tion and  disgrace  as  I  did  when  you  were  a 
prattling  babe  upon  my  knee.  *  *  * 
"  I  would  also  have  you  remember  that  every 
night  before  I  retire  to  rest,  kneeling  at  my 
bedside,  I  ask  God  to  take  care  of  and  watch 
over  my  boy." 

Of  the  nine  hundred  convicts  in  the  peni- 
tentiary not  one  of  their  mothers  ever  forgot  or 
deserted  them.  A  mother's  prayers  always  fol- 
low her  prodigal  children.  Go,  gather  the 
brightest  and  purest  flowers  that  bend  and 
wave  in  the  winds  of  heaven,  the  roses  and 
lilies,  the  green  vine  and  immortelles,  wreathe 
them  in  a  garland,  and  with  this  crown  the  brow 
of  the  truest  of  all  earthly  friends  —  Mother! 
Another  reason  I.  give  for  my  safe  keeping  in 


72  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

that  hour  of  darkness  and  despair  :  In  the  city 
of  Atchison,  on  a  bed  of  pain  and  anguish,  Wy 
my  true,  devoted  and  dying  wife.  Every  Sun- 
day morning  regularly  would  I  receive  a  letter 
dictated  by  her.  Oh!  the  tender,  loving  words! 
"  Every  day,"  said  she,  "  I  pray  that  God  will 
preserve  your  life  while  working  in  the  jaws  of 
death. "  The  true  and  noble  wife,  the  helpmeet 
of  man,  clings  to  him  in  the  hour  of  misfortune 
and  calamity  as  the  vine  clings  to  the  tree  when 
prostrate  on  the  ground.  No  disgrace  can 
come  so  shameful  that  it  will  cause  the  true 
wife  to  forsake.  She  will  no  more  forsake 
than  the  true  soldier  will  desert  on  the  battle- 
field. For  those  imps  in  human  form  that  en- 
deavor to  detract  from  the  honor  belonging  to 
the  wives  of  the  country  there  ought  to  be  no 
commisseration  whatever.  Let  us  honor  the 
wifehood  of  our  native  land.  It  is  the  foun- 
tain of  all  truth  and  righteousness,  and  if  the 
fountainshouldbecomeimpure,  allislost.  One 
more  reason:  Before  I  was  sent  to  the  prison  I 
was  an  evangelist,  and  was  instrumental  in  the 
hands  of  God  of  persuading  hundreds  of  peo- 
ple to  abandon  a  wicked  life  and  seek  the  good. 
During  my  imprisonment  I  received  many  let- 
ters from  these  men  and  women  who  had  been 


THE   COAI    MINES.  J  y 

fc  /nefited  on  account  of  what  I  had  said  to 
them,  and  they  informed  me  that  they  still  re- 
tained confidence  in  me  and  were  praying  God 
for  my  deliverence. 

Now,  I  believe,  in  answer  to  a  mother's 
pi  dyers,  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  my  sainted 
wife,  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  good  men 
and  women,  who  were  converts  to  "  the  faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints  "  under  my  earnest 
endeavors — in  answer  to  all  these  prayers, 
God  lent  a  listening  ear  and  preserved  me  from 
all  harm  and  danger. 

PATHETIC  OCCURRENCES  IN  THE   MINES. 

It  is  a  great  consolation  for  prisoners  tc 
receive  letters  from  their  friends.  One  day  a 
convict  working  in  the  next  room  to  me  inquired 
if  I  would  like  to  see  a  letter.  I  replied  I  would. 
He  had  just  received  one  from  his  wife,  This 
prisoner  was  working  out  a  sentence  of  five 
years.  He  had  been  in  the  mines  some  two 
years.  At  home,  he  had  a  wife  and  five  chil- 
dren. They  were  in  destitute  circumstances. 
In  this  letter  his  wi  fe  informed  him  that  she  had 
been  taking  in  washing  for  the  support  of  her- 
self and  children,  and  that  at  times  they  had  to 
retire  early  because  they  had  no  fuel  to  keep 


74  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

them  warm.  Also,  that,  on  several  occasions, 
she  had  been  compelled  to  put  the  children  to 
bed  without  supper.  But  this  noble  woman 
stated  to  her  husband  that  their  lot  was  not  so 
bad  as  his.  She  encouraged  him  to  bear  up 
under  his  burdens,  and  that  the  time  would 
soon  come  when  his  sentence  would  expire  and 
he  would  be  permitted  to  return  home  again, 
and  that  the  future  would  be  bright  once  more 
as  it  had  been  before  the  unfortunate  circum- 
stances that  led  to  his  imprisonment.  It  was 
a  good  letter,  written  by  a  noble  woman.  A 
couple  of  days  after  this,  as  I  was  mining,  I 
heard  a  voice  in  the  adjoining  room.  I  listened. 
At  first  I  thought  it  was  the  mining  boss,  but 
I  soon  discovered  I  was  mistaken.  Listening 
again  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  con- 
vict who  was  working  in  the  next  room  was 
becoming  insane,  a  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
mines.  Many  of  the  poor  convicts  being  un- 
able to  stand  the  strain  of  years  and  the  phys 
ical  toil,  languish  and  die  in  the  insane  ward. 
To  satisfy  my  curiosity,  I  took  my  mining 
lamp  from  my  cap,  placed  it  on  the  ground, 
covered  it  up  as  best  I  could  with  some  pieces 
of  slate,  and  then  crawled  up  in  the  darkness 
near  where  he  was.  I  never  saw  such  a  sight 


THE  COAL  MINES.  75 

as  was  now  presented  to  me.  This  broad- 
shouldered  convict  on  his  knees,  with  his  frame 
bent  over,  his  face  almost  touching  the  floor 
of  the  room,  was  praying  for  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren. Such  a  prayer  I  never  heard  before, 
nor  do  I  expect  to  hear  again.  His  petition 
was  something  like  the  following: 

"  Oh,  Heavenly  Father,  I  am  myself  a 
wicked,  desperate  man.  I  do  not  deserve 
any  love  or  protection  for  my  own  sake.  I 
do  not  expect  it,  but  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  do 
have  mercy  on  my  poor  wife  and  helpless  chil- 
dren." 

I  have  been  able,  many  times  in  my  life,  to 
spend  an  hour  or  more  in  the  prayer  circle, 
and,  unmoved,  could  listen  to  the  prayers  of 
the  children  of  God.  But  I  could  not  remain 
there  in  the  darkness  and  listen  to  such  a 
prayer  as  that  going  forth  from  the  lips  of 
that  poor  convict;  so  I  glided  back  through 
the  darkness  into  my  own  room,  and  left  him 
there  alone,  pleading  with  his  Creator  for  his 
lone  and  helpless  ones  at  home. 

Reader,  did  God  listen  to  the  wails  of  that 
poor  heart-ataicken  prisoner?  Yes!  yes!  yes! 
For  though  a  prodigal,  sinful  child,  yet  he  is 
still  a  child  of  the  universal  Father.  Who  of 


76  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

us  dare  excommunicate  him?  What  frail  mor- 
tal of  passing  time  would  dare  lift  up  his  hand 
and  say,  this  poor  wanderer  is  forgotten  of  his 
God? 

What  a  glorious  privilege  is  communion 
with  God.  What  a  sweet  consolation  to  know 
God  hears,  though  we  may  be  far  removed 
from  the  dear  ones  we  love.  And  who  can  tell 
the  glorious  things  that  have  been  wrought  by 
th*  wonderful  Father  of  the  race  by  that  strong 
lever  of  prayer.  How  often  has  the  rough 
ways  of  life  been  made  smooth.  How  often 
do  we  fail  to  credit  the  same  to  the  kind  inter- 
cession of  friends  with  the  Father  of  us  all. 

But  to  continue,  it  often  happens  that  in  the 
coal  mines,  persons,  no  longer  able  to  sustain 
the  heavy  load  that  is  placed  upon  them  of  re- 
maining in  prison  for  a  long  time,  give  way,  and 
they  become  raving  maniacs.  One  day  a  pris- 
oner left  his  room,  and  crawling  out  on  his 
hands  and  knees  into  the  entry,  sat  down  on  a 
pile  of  coal  and  commenced  to  sing.  He  had 
a  melodious  voice,  and  these  were  the  words, 
the  first  stanza  of  that  beautiful  hymn: 

"  Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul, 
Let  roe  to  Thy  bosam  fly." 

After  he  had  completed  the  first  stanza  two  of 


THE  COAL   MINES.  // 

the  officer*  came  to  him  and  directed  him  to  go 
back  into  the  room  to  work.  He  replied  that 
he  did  not  have  to  work;  that  he  had  religion, 
and  that  when  a  man  had  religion  he  did  not 
have  to  work.  Said  he,  "  We  are  now  going 
to  have  a  prayer  meeting,  and  "  addressing  one 
of  the  officers,  "  you  you  will  please  lead  us  in 
prayer."  The  officer  replied,  "  I  don't  pray  in 
coal  mines;  I  pray  above  the  surface  so  that 
God  can  hear."  At  this  the  insane  convict 
picked  up  a  large  piece  of  Coal  and  was  going 
to  hurl  it  after  him,  and  threatened  that  if  he 
did  not  get  on  his  knees  and  go  to  praying  he 
would  compel  him  to  do  so.  While  he  was 
thus  addressing  one  officer  the  other  slipped 
around  in  his  rear  and  striking  his  arm  knocked 
the  piece  of  coal  out  of  his  hand.  Then  the 
officers  seized  him,  one  on  each  side,  and  forced 
him  to  go  with  them  down  the  road  ways  to  the 
shaft,  from  whence  he  was  taken  to  the  top 
and  placed  in  the  insane  ward,  where  he  remains 
at  this  writing.  As  he  was  passing  down  the 
entries,  away  in  the  distance  we  heard  him 
singing — 

"  Other  refuge  have  I  none, 
Haagf  my  helpless  soul  on  Thee. 

Leave,  oh  leave  me  not  alone, 
Still  support  and  comfort  me." 


78  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

I  ean  never  forget  the  impression  made 
upon  me  as  those  words  rang  down  through 
the  dark  passages,  coming  from  the  lips  of  that 
insane  convict  as  they  led  him  away  from  the 
confinement  of  the  mines  to  the  confinement 
of  insanity.  How  true  those  beautiful  words 
were  in  his  case! 

THE  COAL  MINES  A  COLLEGE  OF  INFAMY. 

The  mines  of  this  penal  institution  are  a 
college  for  the  education  and  graduation  of 
hardened  criminals,  and  for  illustration,  and  the 
instruction  of  those  not  familiar  with  the  sub- 
ject matter  referred  to,  I  will  relate  what  came 
under  my  personal  observation,  and  some  things 
that  I  heard  while  in  there.  One  day,  in  com- 
pany with  me  while  engaged  in  mining,  were 
two  other  convicts.  One  of  these  was  a  hard- 
ened old  crook.  He  was  serving  out  a  term  on 
the  charge  of  making  and  passing  counterfeit 
money.  The  other  fellow-convict  was  a  young 
man  seventeen  years  of  age  —  a  mere  boy. 
Tired  of  mining,  we  laid  off  awhile,  resting. 
During  this  time  the  old  convict  gave  us  in- 
structions in  the  manner  of  making  counterfeit 
money.  He  told  us  how  he  would  construct 
his  counterfeit  molds  out  of  plaster  paris, 


THE    COAL  MINES.  79 

which  he  would  use  in  the  same  manner  that 
bullet  molds  are  used.  He  would  purchase 
some  britannica  metal.  On  some  dark  night  he 
would  go  into  the  forest,  build  up  a  fire,  melt 
the  metal,  pour  the  melted  liquor  into  the 
molds,  and  in  this  manner  make  silver  dollars. 
He  informed  us  that  it  didn't  take  very  long  to 
make  a  hatful  of  money.  A  few  days  there- 
after this  young  man,  who  was  with  us  in  the 
room  at  the  time,  informed  me  that  when  he 
went  out  again  into  the  world,  if  he  was  unable 
to  secure  work,  he  would  try  his  hand  at  mak- 
ingcounterfeit  money.  I  advised  him  not  to  do 
this,  as  it  was  almost  a  certainty  that  he  would 
be  detected.  He  thought  differently.  About 
a  month  thereafter  he  was  released  from  the 
prison.  He  went  out  into  the  world,  and,  un- 
able to  obtain  work,  did  try  his  hand  at  making 
counterfeit  money.  Shortly  before  my  time 
expired  here  came  this  young  man  to  prison 
again,  with  a  sentence  of  three  years  at  hard 
labor  for  making  and  passing  counterfeit 
money.  He  had  received  his  criminal  instrud 
tion  in  the  penitentiary  mines,  the  result  of 
which  will  be  that  he  will  spend  the  greater 
portion  of  his  life  a  convict. 

There  are   a    great   many  instances  where 


80  THB  TWIN    HELLS. 

these  young  convicts,  having  received  their 
education  in  the  coal  mines,  go  into  the  world 
to  become  hardened  criminals.  Down  in  this 
school  of  crime,  in  the  midst  of  the  darkness, 
they  learn  how  to  make  burglary  tools,  to 
crack  safes,  and  to  become  expert  as  pick- 
pockets; they  take  lessons  in  confidence  games, 
and  when  their  time  expires  they  are  prepared 
for  a  successful  career  of  crime.  It  is  utterly 
impossible  for  the  officers  of  the  coal  mines 
to  prevent  these  men  from  conversing  with 
each  other.  If  these  mines  were  sold,  and 
the  money  obtained  from  the  sale  of  them 
was  used  in  building  workhouses  on  the  sur- 
face, and  these  men  placed  at  work  there 
under  the  watchful  care  of  the  official,  they 
would  then  be  unable  to  communicate  with 
each  other,  and  would  be  saved  from  the  de- 
basing contamination  of  the  hardened  crimi- 
nals. They  would  be  saved  from  all  this  that 
degrades  and  makes  heartless  wretches. 

A  scene  occurred  in  the  mines  one  day  that 
illustrates  the  fact  that  judges  sometimes,  in 
their  anxiety  to  enforce  the  laws,  overstep  the 
bounds  ofjustice,  and  inflict  excessive  punish- 
ment and  place  burdens  upon  human  beings 
which  they  are  unable  to  bear.  One  afternoon 


THE  COAL  MINES.  S I 

in  the  city  of  Emporia  ten  tramps  \vere  ar- 
rested and  thrown  into  the  county  jail.  During 
the  succeeding  night  one  of  these  persons 
thrust  a  poker  into  the  stove,  and  heating  it  red 
hot,  made  an  effort  to  push  the  hot  iron  through 
the  door,  thus  burning  a  large  hole  in  the  door- 
casing.  The  next  morning  the  sheriff,  entering 
the  jail,  perceiving  what  this  vagrant  had  done, 
was  displeased,  and  tried  to  ascertain  which  one 
of  the  ten  was  guilty  of  the  offense.  The 
comrades  of  the  guilty  party  refused  to  disclose 
the  perpetrator  of  the  act.  Court  was  then  in 
session.  The  sheriff  had  these  ten  fellows 
brought  into  court,  hoping  that  when  placed 
upon  the  witness  stand,  under  oath,  they  would 
tell  which  had  committed  the  offense.  Even  in 
court  they  were  true  to  each  other,  and  would 
not  reveal  the  perpetrator.  They  were  then  all 
convicted,  and  the  judge  passed  a  sentence  of 
ten  years  upon  each  of  these  vagrants  for  that 
trivial  offense.  They  came  to  the  penitentiary. 
The  day  after  their  arrival  they  were  all  sent 
to  the  coal  mines.  For  two  years  they  worked 
day  after  day  down  in  the  Kansas  bastile. 
One  morning,  after  they  had  been  in  the  mines 
for  two  years,  one  of  the  number,  at  the  break- 
fast table  in  the  dintng*ret>m,  unpereeiwd  se- 


82  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

creted  a  knife  in  his  clothing  and  carried  it  with 
him  down  to  his  place  of  work.  He  wentinto 
his  little  room  and  began  the  labors  of  the  day. 
After  toiling  for  a  few  hours  he  took  a  stone 
and  sharpened  his  knife  the  best  he  possibly 
could,  then  stepped  out  into  the  entry  where 
he  could  stand  erect,  and  with  his  head  thrown 
back  drew  that  knife  across  his  throat,  cutting 
it  from  ear  to  ear,  thus  terminating  his  life, 
preferring  death  to  longer  remaining  in  the 
mines  of  the  Kansas  Hell!  Who  is  there  that 
is  not  convinced  of  the  fact  that  the  blood  of 
this  suicide  stains  the  garments  of  the  judge 
who  placed  this  unbearable  burden  often  years 
upon  this  young  man,  and  who,  I  subsequently 
learned,  was  innocent  of  the  offense.  I  would 
advisethe  good  people  of  Lyons  County,  and  of 
Emporia  particularly,  after  they  have  perused 
this  book,  if  they  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
they  have  no  better  material  out  of  which  to 
construct  a  district  judge,  to  go  out  on  the 
frontier  and  lassoo  a  wild  Comanche  Indian 
and  bring  him  to  Emporia  and  place  him  upon 
the  ermincd  bench.  I  do  not  even  know  the 
name  of  this  judge,  but  I  believe,  if  I  am  cor- 
rectly informed  in  this  case,  that  his  judgment 
is  deficient  somewhere.  But  I  must  say  in  this 


THE   COAL   MINES.  83 

connection,  when  the  good  people  of  Lyons 
County  heard  of  this  suicide,  they  immediately 
thereafter  petitioned  the  Board  of  Pardons  for 
the  release  of  these  prisoners,  and  the  board 
at  onoe  reported  favorably  upon  their  casest 
and  Governor  Martin  promptly  granted  their 
pardons  and  they  were  released  from  the 
prison.  If  the  pardon  had  not  been  granted, 
others  of  them  had  resolved  upon  taking  their 
lives  as  did  their  comrade.  One  of  these 
prisoners  was  for  a  time  a  companion  of  mine 
in  one  of  my  mining  rooms,  and  told  me  if  he 
was  required  to  remain  in  the  coal  mines 
^ggmg  coal  another  three  months  he  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  follow  the  example  of  his 
comrade,  preferring  death  to  the  horrors  of 
the  mines. 

For  the  further  information  of  the  reader, 
as  to  the  dread  of  the  prisoners  of  work  in  the 
mines,  I  cite  the  following  which  I  call  to  recol- 
lection. The  gentlemanly  physician  of  the  in- 
stitution, Dr.  Neeally,  told  me  that  at  four  dif- 
ferent times  men  had  feigned  death  in  the  mines 
and  had  been  carried  on  stretchers  to  the  hos- 
pital; the  particulars  in  one  case  is  as  follows: 
One  of  these  men  feigned  death  and  was  carried 
to  the  hospital,  and  was  reported  by  his  com- 


84  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

rades  to  be  dead.  He  had  suppressed  his 
breathing.  The  physician  felt  his  pulse,  and 
finding  it  regular,  of  course  knew  he  was 
simply  endeavoring  to  deceive.  In  order  to  ex- 
periment, the  physician  coincided  with  the 
statements  of  the  attending  convicts  who  had 
carried  him  from  the  mines,  and  announced 
that  he  would  try  electricity,  and  if  he  failed  to 
restore  him  to  life  he  would  then  have  to  bury 
him  in  the  regular  way.  The  doctor  retired 
for  the  purpose  of  getting  his  electrical  appa- 
ratus. In  a  few  moments  he  returned,  bringing 
it  with  him,  and  placing  the  magnetic  cups,  one 
in  each  hand,  commenced  generating  the.  elec- 
tricity by  turning  the  generator  attached  to  the 
machine.  After  a  few  turns  of  the  crank  the 
prisoner  opened  his  eyes;  one  or  two  more  and 
he  sat  up;  a  few  more  and  he  stood  on  his 
feet;  another  turn  or  two  and  he  commenced 
dancing  around,  and  exclaimed,  "  For  God's 
sake,  doctor, do  quit,  for  I  ain't  dead,  but  I  can't 
let  loose!  "  Reader,  what  do  you  suppose  was 
the  object  this  convict  had  in  view  in  thus 
feigning  death?  What  did  he  hope  to  gain 
thereby?  Being  well  acquainted  with  this 
prisoner,  a  few  days  after  the  doctor  had  told 
me  of  the  circumstances  I  met  him,  and  asked 


THE  COAL  MINES.  85 

him  what  object  he  had  in  feigning  death  the 
time  that  he  was  taken  from  the  mines  to  the 
hospital?  His  reply  was  that  he  hadn't  the 
nerve  to  take  his  own  life,  as  he  believed  in  a 
future  state  of  punishment,  and  that  he  did  not 
desire  to  step  from  the  Kansas  Hell  to  the 
hell  of  the  future,  and  that  by  feigning  death 
he  hoped  to  be  taken  to  the  hospital,  placed 
in  a  coffin,  then  taken  out  to  the  prison  grave- 
yard, and  buried  alive,  so  that  he  would  suffo- 
cate in  his  grave! 

There  is  not  a  man  in  those  mines  but 
would  leave  them  quickly  for  a  place  on  the 
surface. 

I  now  call  to  mind  one  instance  where  a 
heart-broken  father  came  to  the  prison  and 
offered  one  of  the  leading  prison  officials  one 
thousand  dollars  if  he  would  take  his  son  out 
of  the  coal  mines  and  give  him  a  place  on  the 
surface  during  the  remainder  of  his  term.  A 
man  who  labors  in  these  mines  simply  spends 
his  time,  not  knowing  but  the  next  hour  will 
be  his  last. 

As  I  have  stated  heretofore  the  prisoners 
are  allowed  to  converse  in  the  mines,  and  as  a 
result  of  this  almost  n&cessary  rule,  every  con- 
vict has  an  opportunity  to  listen  to  the  vilest 


86  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

obscenity  that  ever  falls  upon  human  ears. 
At  times,  when  some  of  these  convicts,  who 
seem  veritable  encyclopedias  of  wickedness,  are 
crowded  together,  the  ribald  jokes,  obscenity 
and  blasphemy  are  too  horrible  for  description. 
It  is  a  pandemonium  —  a  miniature  hell!  But 
worse  than  this  horrible  flow  of  language  are 
the  horrible  and  revolting  practices  of  the 
mines.  Men,  degraded  to  a  plane  lower  than 
the  brutes,  are  guilty  of  the  unmentionable 
crimes  referred  to  by  the  Apostle  Paul  in  his 
letter  to  the  Romans,  chapter  I,  verse  27,  which 
is  as  follows:  "  And  likewise  also  the  men, 
leaving  the  natural  use  of  the  woman,  burned 
in  their  lusts  one  toward  another,  men  with  men, 
working  that  which  is  unseemly,  and  receiving 
in  themselves  that  recompense  of  their  error 
which  was  meet."  Every  opportunity  is  here 
offered  for  this  vile  practice.  They  are  far 
removed  from  the  light  and  even  from  the  influ- 
ences of  their  officers,  and  in  the  darkness  and 
silence  old  and  hardened  criminals  debase  and 
mistreat  themselves  and  sometimes  the  younger 
ones  that  are  associated  with  them  in  their 
work.  These  cases  of  self-abuse  and  sodomy 
are  of  daily  occurrence,  and,  although  the  offi- 
cials of  the  prison  take  every  precaution  to  pre- 


THE  COAL  MINES.  8/ 

vent  such  evil  practices,  yet,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
so  long  as  prisoners  are  permitted  to  work  in 
the  mines  it  will  be  impossible  to  break  up  these 
terribly  degrading  and  debasing  practices. 
Oh,  Kansan!  you  that  boast  of  the  freedom 
and  liberty,  the  strength  of  your  laws,  and  the 
institutions  in  your  grand  young  State,  what 
do  you  think  of  this  disclosure  of  wickedness, 
equalling  if  not  excelling  the  most  horrible 
things  ever  pictured  by  the  divine  teachers  of 
humanity, — the  apostles  and  their  followers? 
A  hint  is  only  here  given,  but  to  the  wise  it  will 
be  sufficient,  and  but  a  slight  exercise  of  the 
imaginative  powers  will  be  necessary  to  unfold 
to  you  the  full  meaning  of  this  terrible  state 
of  affairs. 

It  is  believed  by  the  writer  that  if  the  peo- 
ple of  the  State  of  Kansas  knew  under  what 
circumstances  men  in  the  prison  were  com- 
pelled to  work,  there  would  be  a  general  indig- 
nation, which  would  soon  be  expressed  through 
the  proper  channels,  and  which  might  lead  to  a 
proper  solution  of  the  difficulty. 

In  many  of  the  rooms  of  the  mines  there  are 
large  pools  of  water  which  accumulate  there 
from  dripping  down  from  the  crevices  above ; 
this,  taken  in  connection  with  the  natural 


88  THE  TWIN    HELLS. 

damps  of  the  mines,  which  increases  the  water, 
makes  very  large  pools,  and  in  these  mud- 
holes  convicts  are  compelled  to  work  and  wal- 
low about  all  day  long  while  getting  out  their 
coal,  more  like  swine  than  anything  else.  How 
can  this  be  in  the  line  of  reformation,  which, 
we  are  taught  to  believe  outside  of  the  prison 
walls,  is  the  principal  effort  of  all  discipline 
within  the  prison.  The  result  of  work  under 
such  unfavorable  circumstances  is  that  many 
of  the  convicts  contract  rheumatism,  neuralgia, 
pneumonia  and  other  lung  troubles,  and,  ol 
course,  malaria.  Many  persons  that  enter 
these  mines  in  good  health  come  out  physical 
wrecks,  often  to  find  homes  in  the  poor-houses 
of  the  land  when  their  prison  days  are  over, 
or  die  before  their  terms  expire.  In  the  judg- 
ment of  the  writer  the  coal  mines  should  be 
told  ;  until  that  is  done,  prisoners  who  con- 
tract diseases  there  that  will  carry  them  to  un- 
timely graves  should  be  pensioned  by  the 
State,  and  thus  kept  from  spending  the  rest  of 
their  natural  lives  in  some  of  the  country  poor- 
houses. 

Each  person  in  the  mines  is  assigned  a  task; 
he  is  required  to  get  out  a  certain  amount  of 
coal  each  week.  In  case  the  convict  fails  to 


THE   COAL   MINES.  89 

mine  the  task  that  has  been  assigned  him  he 
must  endure  punishment,  a  description  o* 
which  will  be  given  later  on.  It  is  the  opinion 
of  the  author  that  something  should  be  done 
to  remedy  this.  The  young  men  from  seven- 
teen to  twenty,  together  with  the  old  men 
from  fifty  to  sixty,  and  those  suffering  from 
diseases,  are  often  required  to  dig  as  much 
coal  as  middle-aged  and  able-bodied  men.  I 
have  seen  old  men  marching  to  their  cells  after 
a  hard  day's  work  scarcely  able  to  walk,  and 
many  times  have  I  laid  in  the  mines  along 
with  these  young  boys  who  would  spend  hours 
crying  like  whipped  children  for  fear  they 
would  be  unable  to  get  out  their  regular  task 
of  coal,  and  would  therefore  have  to  spend 
the  Sabbath  in  the  dungeon,  suffering  unspeak. 
able  anguish. 

Because  of  the  dangers  to  which  the  inmate 
is  exposed;  because  of  the  debasing  influences 
by  which  lie  is  surrounded,  it  is  wrong,  it  is 
wicked  to  work  our  criminals  in  such  a  place 
as  those  mines  of  the  Kansas  penitentiary. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

fHE   PUNISHMENTS   OF   THE    PRISON. 

TrfE  discipline  of  this  institution  is  of  the 
very  highest  character,  and  is  unequaled  in 
any  similar  institution  of  the  United  States. 
The  officers  are  very  watchful  and  strict.  The 
inmates  who  work  on  the  surface  are  not  per- 
mitted to  converse  with  each  other  only  within 
the  hearing  of  an  officer,  and  then  only  with  re- 
gard to  matters  that  pertain  to  work.  The  con- 
vict attends  to  his  duties,  observing  the  strictest 
silence.  When  visitors  pass  about  the  prison 
the  inmate  is  not  permitted  to  lift  uphis  head  to 
gaze  at  them.  Not  even  is  he  permitted  to  take 
a  drink  of  water  or  to  leave  his  place  of  work 
for  anything  without  the  permission  of  the  offi- 
cer in  charge.  As  soon  as  a  criminal  enters  the 
prison  and  is  clothed  in  stripes,  a  copy  of  the 
rules  and  regulations  is  placed  in  his  hands  for 
perusal.  If  he  cannot  read,  an  officer  reads 
them  to  him.  On  the  first  day  of  his  admission 
the  prisoner  receives  certain  tickets,  which  are 
permits  for  privileges  granted  to  him.  One  of 
these  tickets  allows  him  to  have  tobacco  if  he 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  THE    PRISON.  91 

used  the  same  before  coming  to  the  penitentiary; 
one  allows  him  to  receive  visits  from  his  friends; 
another  to  write  a  letter,  monthly,  to  his  rela- 
tives; and  still  another  gives  him  the  privilege 
to  draw  a  book  from  the  library,  weekly. 
These  privileges  are  highly  appreciated  by  the 
prisoners.  For  the  first  offense  in  violation  of 
any  of  the  rules  and  regulations  the  refractory 
prisoner  is  deprived  of  his  ticket ;  and  in 
extreme  cases  these  tickets  have  been  kept 
from  the  prisoner  for  six  months.  To  deprive 
the  convict  of  his  tobacco  for  a  month  or  two, 
if  he  uses  it,  and  many  do,  is  a  severe  punish- 
ment. This  kind  of  punishment  is  usually 
effectual  in  securing  good  discipline.  There 
are  extreme  cases,  however,  that  require 
severer  punishment.  To  meet  this  contin- 
gency, dungeons  are  provided.  As  their 
name  implies,  they  are  dark.  They  resemble 
an  ordinary  cell  with  the  exception  of  the 
door,  which,  in  the  common  cell,  contains 
open  spaces  for  the  admission  of  light ;  but  the 
dark  cell  admits  neither  light  nor  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  air.  There  is  no  furniture  in  this 
dark  cell.  While  undergoing  punishment,  if  a 
prisoner  desires  to  rest,  he  can  do  so  by  reclin- 
ing on  the  stone  floor.  No  refractory  prisoned 


92  THE   TWIN    HELLS. 

evar  grows  corpulent  while  confined  in  these 
dark  cells,  as  he  only  receives  one  meal  of 
breao.  and  water  in  twenty-four  hours !  The 
prisoner  is  often  kept  in  these  cells  from  eight 
to  ten  days.  Sleep  is  almost  impossible. 
When  a  prisoner  enters  the  dungeon  he  is 
required  to  leave  behind  him  his  coat,  cap  and 
shoes.  During  the  winter  months  it  is  often 
very  cold  in  these  cells,  requiring  the  prisoner 
to  walk  up  and  down  the  dungeon  in  his  stock- 
ing feet  to  prevent  his  freezing,  and  this  for  a 
period  of  ten  days,  in  nearly  every  instance 
compels  submission.  After  the  dark  cells  thaw 
out,  during  the  summer  months,  they  are  ex- 
cessively hot.  Sometimes  in  winter  the  tem- 
perature is  below  zero,  and  in  summer  it  often 
rises  to  one  hundred  degrees.  They  are  then 
veritable  furnaces.  Generally,  after  the  pris- 
oner undergoes  the  freezing  or  baking  process 
for  eight  or  ten  days,  he  is  willing  to  behave 
himself  in  the  future.  They  are  sometimes  so 
reduced  and  weak  when  brought  out  of  the  dark 
cell  that  they  can  scarcely  walk  without  aid.  I 
have  seen  them  reel  to  and  fro  like  drunken 
men.  They  are  often  as  pale  as  death.  That 
in  many  cases  the  prisoner  contracts  cold  whieh 
later  on  terminates  fatally,  is  one  of  the  princi- 


PUNISHMENTS   OF   THE   PRISON.  93 

pal  objections  to  this  mode  of  punishment. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  dark  cells  of  the 
Kansas  Hell  have  hastened  the  death  of  many 
a  poor,  friendless  convict.  If  a  person  in  the 
mines  does  not  get  out  his  regular  weekly  task 
of  coal,  on  Saturday  night  he  is  reported  to 
the  deputy  warden  by  the  officer  in  charge,  and 
is  sent  to  the  blind  cell  before  supper,  and  is 
kept  there  until  the  following  Monday  morn- 
ing, when  he  is  taken  out  and  sent  to  his  work 
in  the  mines.  While  in  there  he  gets  only 
bread  and  water  once  in  twenty-four  hours. 
This  is  a  great  inducement  to  work  ;  it  cer- 
tainly prevents  criminals  from  shirking  their 
labor,  and  soon  converts  a  lazy  tramp  into  a 
rustling  coal  miner.  There  is  one  thing,  how- 
ever, that  is  connected  with  this  system  of 
punishment  that  I  will  criticise.  The  officer 
under  whose  immediate  control  the  prisoner  is 
placed  fixes  the  period  of  his  confinement 
in  the  dungeon.  It  gives  the  officer  a  good 
opportunity  to  abuse  a  prisoner  he  may  dis- 
like. These  subordinate  officers  are  not  all 
angels.  Some  of  them  are  lacking  in  sym- 
pathy. They  have  become  hardened,  and  fre- 
quently treat  their  men  like  beasts.  These 
persons  should  not  possess  such  a  dangerous 


94  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

power.  The  warden  or  deputy  warden  should 
decide  the  character  as  well  as  the  period  of 
punishment. 

If  in  this  dark  cell  ten  days  and  nights  is  in- 
sufficient to  subdue  the  rebellious  spirit  of  the 
convict,  he  is  taken  out  and  placed  in  the  soli- 
tary cell.  This  is  similar  to  the  ordinary  cell, 
with  the  exception  that  it  contains  no  furni- 
ture. Here  the  convict  remains  on  bread  and 
water  until  he  is  starved  almost  to  death,  or 
until  he  is  willing  to  submit  and  do  his  work 
as  ordered. 

Another  mode  of  punishment  resorted  to 
in  a  few  cases,  is  even  more  brutal  than  the 
dark  cell.  The  obdurate  prisoner  is  stripped 
naked  and  tied  to  a  post.  The  hose  which  is 
connected  with  the  water-works  is  turned 
upon  his  naked  body.  The  water  pressure  is 
sixty  pounds  to  the  square  inch.  As  the  water 
strikes  the  nude  body  the  suffering  is  intense. 
This  mode  of  punishment  is  but  rarely  resorted 
to.  It  is  exceedingly  wicked  and  barbarous. 
It  is  a  shame  to  treat  a  human  being  in  such  a 
manner.  There  are  many  hardened  criminals 
and  desperate  characters  in  the  penitentiary, 
and  it  may  sometimes  be  necessary  to  resort 
to  extreme  measures,  but  there  have  been 


PUNISHMENTS   OF  THE   PRISON.  95 

many  instances  when,  as  it  seemed  to  me, 
these  excessive  punishments  might  have  been 
avoided  and  still  the  good  discipline  of  the 
prison  maintained.  "  Blessed  are  the  merci- 
ful, for  they  shall  obtain  mercy."  But 
the  author  would  have  you  recollect  that 
the  punishments  of  the  Kansas  peniten- 
tiary are  not  as  severe  as  the  discipline  in 
her  sister  institutions.  Many  of  the  inmates  of 
this  prison  who  have  formerly  served  terms  in 
others  of  like  character,  have  shown  him  the 
scars  and  marks  of  brutal  punishment.  One  of 
these  poor  unfortunates  showed  me  his  back, 
which  is  covered  with  great  furrows  in  the 
flesh  caused  by  the  cat-o'-nine-tails  in  the  hands 
of  a  merciless  official  of  the  Missouri  peniten- 
tiary. Another  prisoner  carries  thumbs  out 
of  joint  and|stiffened  by  the  inhuman  practice  of 
hanging  up  by  the  thumbs  in  vogue  in  a  former 
place  of  imprisonment,  and  still  another  carries 
about  with  him  ugly  wounds  inflicted  by  blood- 
hounds which  overtook  him  when  trying  to 
escape  from  a  Southern  prison. 

The  foregoing  is  a  view  of  the  punishments 
inflicted  from  a  prisoner's  standpoint.  That 
the  reader  may  arrive  at  just  conclusions,  I 
quote  the  statements  on  the  same  subject  made 


96  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

by  the  warden,  Captain  Smith,  in  his  able  bien- 
nial report  of  last  year.  In  doing  so,  I  beg 
leave  to  state  that  the  convict  who  had  ever 
been  the  object  of  the  prison  discipline,  or  who 
had  spent  his  ten  days  and  nights  in  one  of 
those  dismal  dungeons,  subsisting  on  bread  and 
water,  would  readily  say  that  the  warden  had 
treated  the  subject  in  a  manner  "  very  mild." 
"  The  discipline  has  been  carefully  looked 
after,  and  as  a  general  thing  prisoners  yield  to 
strict  discipline  quicker  than  most  people  think. 
They  seem  to  see  and  realize  the  necessity  of 
rules,  and  veryseldom  complain,  if  they  violate 
them,  at  the  punishment  that  is  sure  to  follow. 
Our  punishments  are  of  such  a  character  that 
they  do  not  degrade.  Kansas,  when  she  estab- 
lished her  penitentiary,  prohibited  corporal 
punishment.  She  is  one  of  the  few  States  that 
by  law  prohibits  the  use  of  the  whip  and  strap; 
taking  the  position  that  it  is  better  to  use  kind- 
ness than  to  resort  to  brutal  measures.  I  have 
often  been  told,  and  that,  too,  by  oldprisonmen, 
that  it  was  impossible  to  run  a  prison  and  have 
first-class  discipline  without  the  whip.  Such  is 
not  my  experience.  W®  hav*  had  within  our 
walls  perhaps  as  dtftpcratt  men  as  ever  re- 
ceived a  sentence.  We  have  controlled  them, 


PUNISHMENTS  OF  THE   PRISON.  9y 

andhave  maintained  a  discipline  second  to  non& 
in  the  country.  How  did  we  accomplish  this? 
Our  answer  is,  bybeingkind  but  firm;  treating 
a  man,  although  he  may  be  a  prisoner,  as  a 
man.  If  he  violates  rules,  lock  him  up.  Give 
him  an  opportunity  to  commune  with  himself 
and  his  Maker;  also  give  him  to  understand 
that  he  is  the  executioner  of  his  own  sentence, 
and  when  he  concludes  that  he  can  do  right, 
release  him.  It  matters  not  how  vicious,  how 
stubborn,  or  what  kind  of  a  temper  he  may 
have,  when  left  with  no  one  to  talk  to,  and  an 
opportunity  to  cool  down,  and  with  a  knowl- 
edge that  when  he  comes  to  the  conclusion  that 
he  will  do  better  he  can  be  released,  he  leaves 
the  cell  feeling  much  different  than  the  prisoner 
who  leaves  the  whipping-post,  after  having 
received  any  number  of  lashes  that  a  brutal 
officer  may  desire  to  inflict.  One  goes  to  his 
work  cheerful,  and  determined  to  behave  him- 
self; the  other  dogged,  revengeful,  completely 
humiliated,  and  only  lives  in  hope  that  he  may 
at  some  time  take  his  revenge  upon  the  per- 
son that  ordered  or  inflicted  the  punishment, 
and  upon  the  State  or  country  that  would, 
by  its  laws,  tolerate  such  a  brutal  or  slavish 
practice. " 

Tha  Twin  Hell.  7 


CHAPTER  V. 

SUNDAY   IN  THE  PRISON. 

A  PRISONER  is  always  thankful  for  the  Sab- 
bath. He  has  been  working  hard  all  week, 
and  Sunday  affords  the  opportunity  of  resting. 
On  the  Sabbath  morning,  the  bell  for  rising 
rings  at  eight  o'clock.  At  its  ringing  each 
person  must  rise  and  dress;  he  is  not  permitted 
to  do  so  before  it  rings.  If  he  gets  tired  of 
remaining  in  his  bunk  so  late  as  eight  o'clock, 
and  should  wish  to  get  up  and  dress,  it  would 
do  him  no  good;  it  would  be  a  violation  of 
rules  and  result  in  punishment.  After  the  pris- 
oner is  up  and  dressed,  he  washes  and  marches 
out  in  ranks  to  breakfast.  It  is  hash,  hash, 
hash,  for  Sunday  breakfast,  the  same  as  any 
other  day,  except  once  a  month  it  is  codfish 
hash  instead  of  beef  hash.  After  breakfast, 
instead  of  going  from  the  dining-room  to  work, 
the  prisoners  are  marched  back  into  their 
cells  where  they  remain  until  time  for  chapel 
exercises. 

There  is  a  dining-room  for  the  prisoners  and 
another  for  the  officers.  The  room  where  the 


SUNDAY  IN  THE  PRISON.  99 

prisoners  dine  is  a  large  hall  capable  of  seat- 
ing fully  twelve  hundred  men.  Each  table  is 
long  enough  to  accommodate  twenty  men,  and 
resembles  an  ordinary  school-desk.  There  are 
no  table-cloths  or  napkins;  nothing  but  a  plain, 
clean  board.  The  table  furniture  consists  of  a 
tin  quart  cup,  a  small  pan  of  the  same  precious 
metal,  which  holds  the  hash,  an  iron  knife, 
fork  and  spoon.  No  beautiful  silverware 
adorns  this  table;  on  the  contrary,  all  the  din- 
ing service  is  very  plain  and  cheap.  The  con- 
victs are  marched  into  the  dining-room  in 
divisions,  and  seated  at  the  table.  Here  they 
remain  in  perfect  silence,  with  their  heads 
bowed. 

No  talking  or  gazing  about  the  dining-room 
is  permitted.  After  all  the  divisions  are  in  and 
seated,  the  deputy  warden  taps  a  small  bell, 
and  the  convicts  begin  the  work  of  "  conceal- 
ing the  hash."  Before  the  men  enter  the  din- 
ing-room the  coffee,  bread  and  hash  are  placed 
on  the  table  for  each  man.  The  prisoners  are 
given  all  the  food  they  can  eat.  It  is  not  the 
quantity,  but  the  quality,  that  is  objectionable. 

If  more  bread  is  wanted,  instead  of  calling 
out  "  Please  pass  the  bread,"  the  convict  holds 
up  his  hand,  and  the  waiter  comes  along  and 


IOO  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

puts  a  piece  of  bread  in  it.  He  gets  but  a 
pint  of  coffee,  and  if  he  wishes  a  second  sup- 
ply he  holds  up  his  cup  and  it  is  refilled  —  but 
with  water  instead  of  coffee.  If  he  wishes 
more  hash  he  holds  aloft  his  meat  dish,  and  an 
officer  hands  him  a  large  pan  of  hash,  out  of 
which  he  fills  his  dish.  Not  a  word  is  spoken 
during  the  meal.  Ample  time  is  given  the 
convicts  to  get  all  the  food  they  desire;  then 
the  deputy  warden,  who  occupies  a  raised  seat 
ait  the  end  of  the  dining-room,  taps  a  small  bell, 
atnd  the  men  march  out  in  divisions,  back  to 
their  cells  on  Sunday  mornings,  and  to  their 
work  on  week  days. 

Breakfast  over,  and  the  men  in  their  cells, 
the  choir,  which  leads  the  singing  and  furnishes 
the  instrumental  music  for  the  occasion,  is  taken 
out,  and,  under  the  watchful  care  of  an  officer,  is 
conducted  to  the  chapel  where  they  practice 
until  time  for  the  regular  services.  The  choir 
was  composed  of  convicts  who  could  sing, 
regardless  of  the  crimes  for  which  they  were 
sent  to  prison.  I  recollect  atone  time  we  had 
two  horse-thieves,  two  rapists  —  one  with  a 
sentence  of  forty  years  —  three  murderers,  two 
hog-thieves,  and  several  others  of  equally  vil- 
lainous records,  and,  last  of  all,  the  author.1 


SUNDAY   IN   THE   PRISON  IOI 

But  this  choir  will  compare  favorably  with 
some  of  the  high-toned  church  choirs  outside! 
To  return,  think  of  such  a  choir  singing: 

"  Oh,  how  happy  are  they, 

Who  their  Saviour  obey, 

And  have  laid  up  their  treasures  above !  " 

At  eleven  o'clock,  the  prison  bell  rings,  and 
the  men  are  marched  in  ranks  to  the  chapel. 
When  the  first  division  or  company  reaches 
the  room  where  the  services  are  to  be  held, 
the  string  band  commences  to  play,  and  as  the 
divisions  march  in  one  after  another  they  are 
greeted  with  music.  The  instruments  used  are 
a  piano,  organ,  violin,  cornet  and  bass  viol. 
Very  fine  music  is  rendered  by  the  prison 
band.  All  being  seated,  the  chaplain,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Crawford,  a  genuine  Christian  and  God- 
fearing man,  rises,  and  in  his  happy  style  reads 
some  beautiful  hymn  which  is  familiar  to  the 
congregation.  The  choir  leads  and  the  entire 
congregation  sings.  Such  singing!  The  con- 
victs have  only  one  opportunity  a  week  to  try 
their  voices  in  a  musical  way,  and  when  that 
opportunity  comes  around  it  is  improved. 
Nearly  one  thousand  voices  unite  in  singing  those 
beautiful  gospel  hymns!  A  prayer  is  offered; 
moresinging;  then  the  chaplain,  or  some  visiting 


102  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

minister  who  may  be  present,  preaches  a  short 
discourse.  There  is  a  large  field  for  usefulness, 
and  for  doing  good,  in  the  penitentiary.  The 
harvest  is  truly  great.  Chaplain  Crawford 
comprehends  the  situation,  and  is  putting  forth 
strenuous  efforts  to  save  these  men  who  have 
drifted  thus  far  down  the  currents  of  sin.  His 
labors  are  abundantly  blessed  of  God.  Many 
men  go  out  of  that  institution  a  great  deal  bet- 
ter than  when  they  first  entered.  Were  it  not 
for  the  cruel  treatment  the  prisoners  suffer  in 
the  coal  mines  of  that  institution  many  more  of 
them  would  be  reformed.  This  treatment  tends 
to  harden  the  criminal.  The  chaplain  has 
many  evils  to  counteract,  yet  he  contends  nobly 
for  the  right,  and  some  of  these  men  are  being 
redeemed  from  a  sinful  life.  After  the  sermon, 
the  choir  and  the  string  band  furnish  more 
soul-stirring  music,  which  enlivens  the  spirits  of 
the  prisoners,  and  then  the  chapel  exercises  are 
over.  The  prisoners  are  now  returned  to  their 
cells.  Occasionally  the  convicts  are  permitted 
to  remain  after  the  chapel  e»ercises  proper  are 
over  and  have  a  social  meeting.  The  chaplain 
renaains  with  them.  These  men  sing,  pray  and 
give  in  their  religious  eKperienee.  It  is  nevel 


SUNDAY  IN  THE  PRISON.  1 03 

to  haar  th«ae  Christian  criminals  telling  how 
they  love  Jesus. 

Immediately  after  the  religious  services  are 
over  the  prison  school  begins.  Nearly  one 
hundred  of  the  convicts  attend  this  school 
The  common  branches,  reading,  writing,  spell- 
ing, arithmetic,  etc.,  are  taught.  This  school 
is  graded,  and  under  the  management  of  the 
chaplain,  who  is  an  excellent  instructor,  is  a 
great  blessing  to  the  prisoners.  Numbers  have 
fitted  themselves  here  so  that  when  they  went 
out  they  were  able  to  pass  examination  and 
obtain  certificates  as  teachers. 

On  entering  the  institution  many  of  the 
prisoners  who  are  unable  to  read  and  write 
soon  acquire  these  useful  arts  if  they  have  any 
ambition  for  self-improvement.  If  there  was 
room,  and  this  school  could  be  conducted  in 
the  evening,  as  well  as  on  Sunday  afternoons, 
much  more  good  could  be  accomplished.  I 
would  suggest  that  it  would  be  a  good  act  on 
the  part  of  the  State  to  employ  an  officer  who 
should  devote  all  his  time  to  teaching  and  im- 
parting instruction  in  the  common  branches, 
and  let  a  room  be  fitted  up  for  evening  school, 
so  that  all  prisoners  who  might  desire  to  im- 
prove themselves  could  attend  this  place  of 


104  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

instruction  after  the  work  of  the  day  was  over. 
Nothing  could  be  done  that  would  be  more 
advantageous  to  the  convict.  The  teachers 
for  the  prison  school  are  selected  from  among 
the  prisoners,  some  of  them  being  very  fine 
scholars. 

After  school  is  over  the  Sunday  dinner  is 
served.  The  prisoners  once  more  march  into 
the  dining-room  and  take  their  places  at  the 
table.  The  Sunday  dinner  is  the  "  crack  " 
meal  of  the  institution.  At  this  meal  the 
prisoners  have  as  a  luxury,  beans,  a  small  piece 
of  cheese  and  some  beet  pickles,  in  addition  to 
their  regular  diet.  This  meal  is  served  at 
2:30. 

The  prisoners  are  then  returned  to  their 
cells,  where  they  remain  until  the  following 
morning.  They  spend  their  time  in  the  cells 
which  is  not  taken  up  by  sleeping,  in  reading. 
The  prison  has  a  fine  library  of  five  thousand 
volumes.  The  State  Legislature  annually 
appropriates  five  hundred  dollars  to  be  ex- 
pended in  purchasing  books.  This  collection 
consists  of  histories,  scientific  works  and  books 
of  fiction.  The  greater  part  of  the  criminals 
prefer  the  works  of  fiction.  Were  it  not  for 
this  privilege  of  reading,  the  Sunday  after- 


SUNDAY  IN  THE  PRISON.  10$ 

noons  and  winter  evenings  would  seem  very 
long  and  dreary. 

Several  officers  are  on  duty  during  the  time 
the  men  are  locked  in  their  cells  on  Sunday, 
and  the  cell  houses  are  very  quiet  and  orderly, 
there  is  no  talking,  as  officers  are  constantly 
walking  backward  and  forward  in  front  of  the 
cells. 

This  is  the  manner  and  style  of  spending  the 
Sabbath  in  prison.  'The  convicts  who  do  the 
cooking  for  the  officers  and  convicts,  are  com- 
pelled to  work  on  Sundays  as  any  other  day 
of  the  week.  It  would  be  nothing  more  than 
right  to  give  these  men  credit  for  this  extra 
work,  and  in  this  manner  reduce  their  sentences. 
The  law  does  not  contemplate  that  criminals 
in  the  penitentiary  should  work  seven  days  in 
the  week  and  fifteen  hours  each  day.  There 
are  more  than  fifty  men  who  are  forced  to  put 
in  this  extra  time  in  hard  labor. 


CHAPTER  VI 

SCENES   IN  THE    HOSPITAL. 

WHEN  a  prisoner  gets  sick  he  reports  to  the 
prison  physician  in  the  morning,  before  work- 
ing hours.  As  the  men  march  out  of  their 
cells  to  go  to  their  breakfast,  those  who  are 
sick  and  desire  to  see  the  doctor  fall  out  of  the 
ranks  and  occupy  seats  in  the  cell  house.  Soon 
the  prison  physician,  Dr.  Nealley,  calls  and 
examines  them.  Many  try  to  deceive  the  phy- 
sician and  thus  get  into  the  hospital,  simply  to 
avoid  work.  But  the  shirkers  are  pretty  well 
known,  and  have  to  be  very  sick  and  give  un- 
mistakable symptoms  of  their  illness  before 
they  can  get  excused.  It  is  very  difficult  to 
deceive  Dr.  Nealley.  He  has  been  with  the 
prisoners  so  long,  nearly  six  years,  that  he 
knows  them  and  can  tell  without  much  effort 
when  one  of  them  is  sick  or  is  not  in  condition 
to  work.  At  these  morning  examinations, 
sometimes  there  are  nearly  one  hundred  who 
report  as  being  sick.  Most  of  them,  instead  of 
being  excused,  get  a  dose  of  medicine  and  are 
sent  to  work.  When  a  prisoner  takes  sick  dur- 

106 


SCBNES  IN  THE  HOSPITAL.  IO/ 

ing  the  day  while  at  work,  he  is  excused  by 
his  officer,  and  permitted  to  go  to  the  hospital 
to  see  the  physician.  Fully  nine-tenths  of  the 
sickness  of  the  prison  is  contracted  in  the  coal 
mines.  The  principal  physical  disabilities  are 
prison  fever,  colds,  pneumonia,  lung  diseases 
and  rheumatism.  Very  few  contagious  diseases 
ever  find  their  way  into  the  prison,  and  those 
that  do  are  quickly  discovered  and  checked  by 
the  prison  physician.  When  a  convict  is 
unable  to  work  he  is  sent  to  the  hospital.  This 
department  contains  two  wards,  in  the  first  of 
which  those  remain  who  are  not  sick  enough  to 
be  confined  to  their  beds,  while  the  very  sick 
are  kept  in  the  second  ward.  Convicts,  de- 
tailed for  that  purpose,  are  the  hospital  nurses. 
It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  these  convict  nurses 
have  a  sympathy  for  their  sick  comrades  truly 
admirable. 

Many  of  these  sick  men  die.  It  is  sad  to 
die  in  the  State's  Prison!  I  recollect  one  case 
that  came  under  my  own  observation  which 
was  indeed  pathetic.  A  man  had  been  sen- 
tenced for  five  years,  and  had  served  out  his 
time  save  one  week,  when,  taken  suddenly  ill, 
he  was  sent  to  the  hospital  and  died  the  day 
before  his  term  would  have  expired.  This  poor 


IO8  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

fellow  piteously  begged  of  the  doctor  to  try  and 
extend  his  life  so  that  he  could  die  a  freeman; 
but  all  in  vain!  On  the  day  which  would  have 
brought  liberty  he  was  borne  through  the  large 
gate  and  buried  in  the  prison  graveyard.  It  is 
heartrending  to  hear  those  men  dying  in  the 
hospital,  call  for  their  mothers,  wives  or  sis- 
ters! The  convict  nurses  are  as  kind  and 
sympathetic  as  possible,  but  in  sickness  and 
death  there  is  no  one  that  can  take  the  place 
of  mother,  wife  or  sister. 

There  was  one  man  who  died  a  few  days 
before  my  term  expired,  for  whom  I  felt  the 
greatest  sympathy.  His  name  was  Frank 
Rhodes.  He  was  sent  from  Holton.  While  in 
jail  and  awaiting  trial  at  that  place  he  was  con- 
verted. Several  Christian  ladieshad  visited  the 
jail  and  left  with  the  inmates  a  few  Bibles  and 
other  religious  literature.  At  his  trial  Frank 
was  convicted  of  crime  and  sentenced  to  the 
penitentiary  for  five  years.  When  he  came  to 
the  State's  prison  he  brought  his  religion  with 
him.  For  two  years  this  man  performed  his 
duties  faithfully.  He  soon  gained  the  good  will 
of  the  officers.  He  was  a  true  Christian  man; 
he  showed  it  in  his  life  while  in  prison.  After 
awhile  his  religion  got  the  better  of  him;  he 


SCENES  IN  THE  HOSF1TAL.  199 

could  not  control  his  emotions.  Often  during 
the  chapel  services,  when  the  convicts  were 
singing  their  Christian  songs,  overcome  by  his 
feelings,  Frank  would  weep  like  a  child.  Time 
passed.  It  was  a  bright  Sabbath  morning. 
The  prisoners  were  marching  out  of  the  cell 
houses  to  the  chapel,  to  attend  divine  service. 
All  nature  seemed  to  be  rejoicing.  Frank  could 
not  longer  restrain  himself.  The  glowing  sun- 
shine has  much  to  do  with  causing  a  man's  re- 
ligion to  boil  over.  All  of  a  sudden,  clapping 
his  hands,  Frank  shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice, 
"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest !  peace  on  earth, 
good  will  to  men !  "  This  was  too  much  for  the 
discipline  of  the  prison.  Convicts  are  expected 
to  keep  quiet.  A  couple  of  officers  seized  him 
and  led  him  back  into  the  cell  house,  where  he 
was  placed  in  a  cell  of  the  insane  ward  and  was 
called  a  religious  crank.  He  remained  in  this 
cell  for  the  following  eighteen  months.  He 
told  me  afterward  these  were  the  happiest 
months  of  his  life.  He1  would  read  his  Bible, 
sing,  pray,  and  exhort  the  officers  to  be  relig- 
ious. The  deputy  warden  would  often  tell 
him  that  when  he  could  control  his  religion 
enough  to  keep  quiet  he  should  be  taken  out  of 
the  insane  ward  and  sent  to  work  again.  When 


110  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

eighteen  months  had  passed  he  concluded  he 
could  keep  quiet,  and  so  informed  the  deputy 
warden.  He  was  immediately  released  from 
his  place  of  confinement  and  went  to  work. 
While  at  work  he  was  honest  and  quiet.  His 
only  trouble  was,  too  much  religion!  Months 
went  by.  His  wife  came  to  see  him  frequently. 
These  visits  were  enjoyable  affairs  to  them. 
On  a  certain  Friday  his  wife  was  to  visit  him .  I 
met  him  the  day  before,  and  he  was  overjoyed 
at  the  prospect  of  seeing  his  wife  the  next  day. 
She  came.  They  had  a  joyful  time.  Little 
did  either  think  they  should  see  each  other  in 
this  life  no  more.  When  the  hour  of  heir  de- 
parture came  they  separated  not  to  meet  again 
until  in  the  world  of  perpetual  sunshine.  The 
next  day  this  poor  convict  was  taken  with  the 
prison  fever,  and  in  one  short  week  he  was  a 
corpse.  He  died  trusting  in  his  Saviour.  The 
chaplain,  speaking  of  this  man's  death,  said  if 
officers  or  convicts  at  death  go  from  the  Kan- 
sas penitentiary  to  heaven,  then  Frank  Rhodes 
was  among  the  saved;  he  was  a  true  Christian 
man.  After  death  his  body  wa«  sent  to  his 
former  home,  Holton,  where  it  was  buried. 

The  following  is  my  experience  with  a  poor 
friendless  colored  boy  who   had  a  six  years' 


SCENES  IN  THE  HOSPITAL.  Ill 

sentence  for  burglary,  I  took  the  prison  fever 
and  was  sent  to  the  hospital.  This  colored 
convict  was  detailed  as  my  nurse.  He  had 
been  sick,  but  was  then  convalescent.  He  was 
very  kind  to  me;  because  of  this  kindness  and 
good  care  I  began  to  like  him.  He  seemed 
anxious  to  make  me  comfortable.  "  Be  kind 
to  the  sick  and  you  will  win  their  friendship." 
I  was  quite  sick  for  two  weeks,  but  began  to 
recover  slowly.  About  this  time  my  nurse  suf- 
fered a  relapse.  He  grew  worse  and  worse. 
The  doctor  gave  him  up.  "  Bob  must  die,"  he 
said  to  the  head  nurse  one  day  in  my  hearing. 
A  day  or  two  after  this,  Bob,  for  that  was  the 
sick  prisoner's  name,  sent  for  me  to  come  to  his 
couch.  I  sat  down  on  the  edge  of  his  bed  and 
asked  him  what  he  wanted.  He  said:  "  I  am 
going  to  die,  and  want  a  friend.  In  all  this 
wide  world,"  continued  he,  "  there  is  not  a  sin- 
gle human  being  that  I  can  look  upon  as  my 
friend."  He  then  told  me  how  he  had  lost  his 
father  and  mother  when  a  mere  child,  had  drifted 
out  into  the  world  an  orphan  boy,  got  into  bad 
company,  into  crime  and  into  prison.  As  I  sat 
there  looking  into  the  face  of  that  little  darkey, 
I  thought  how  sad  his  lot  must  be,  and  my 
sympathies  were  aroused.  I  said,  "  Bob,  is 


112  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

there  anything  I  can  do  for  you?  I  am  your 
friend,  and  will  do  all  I  can  to  aid  you."  I 
spoke  words  of  encouragement,  and  tried 
to  cheer  him  up  by  saying  that  I  thought 
he  would  not  die.  In  this  I  used  a 
little  deceit,  but  it  was  to  assuage  his 
grief.  I  really  thought  he  would  die  very  soon. 
Then  he  told  me  what  he  wanted.  He  said,"  I 
am  going  to  die  ;  my  angel  mother  came  to  my 
bedside  last  night;  I  saw  her  as  plainly  as  I  see 
you  now.  She  said  she  was  coming  soon  to 
take  me  out  of  prison  and  out  of  this  world  of 
sorrow.  Yes,  I  am  going  to  die,  but  I  am 
afraid  to  cross  the  dark  river.  When  I  am 
dying  I  want  you  to  sit  by  my  bedside,  take  hold 
of  my  hand  and  go  with  me  down  the  vale  of 
death  as  far  as  possible.  It  will  do  me  so  much 
good.  Will  you  do  this  for  me  ?  It  is  the  only 
favor  I  ask."  I  told  him  I  would  only  be  too 
glad  to  do  so  if  it  would  aid  him  in  the  moment 
when  life  shrinks  from  the  shadow  of  death, 
but  told  him  I  thought  he  would  not  die  —  an- 
other little  fib  on  my  part.  However,  that  did 
no  harm,  for  I  failed  to  convince  him  he  would 
live.  About  I  o'clock  A.  M.  a  couple  of  nights 
after  this,  one  of  the  watchers  came  to  my  cot 
and  said  Bob  wanted  to  see  me  immediately.  I 


SCENES  IN   THE   HOSPITAL.  113 

felt  his  time  had  come.  Hastily  dressing,  I  went 
to  his  bedside.  I  found  him  dying.  I  sat  down 
by  his  side  and  took  his  hand  in  mine.  I  was 
going  with  him  to  the  dark  river.  He  pressed 
my  hand  and  a  smile  of  satisfaction  passed  over 
his  countenance.  He  said,  "  You  are  so  kind. " 
I  spoke  words  of  hope  and  encouragement 
suitable  to  the  time  and  occasion.  I  sat  thus  for 
some  little  time;  his  limbs  grew  cold;  his  eyes 
became  glassy;  the  death  dew  was  dampening 
his  brow.  It  was  evident  he  would  soon  breathe 
hislast.  Poor,  helpless,  friendless  negro!  What 
was  your  life's  mission?  Many  similar  pious 
thoughts  flitted  through  my  mind.  Without  a 
friend!  Among  all  the  millions  of  earth  he 
could  not  call  one  by  the  endearing  name  of 
friend!  Sad,  sad  thought!  After  I  had  re- 
mained there  some  time,  expecting  every 
breath  to  be  his  last,  what  was  my  astonishment 
to  discover  his  hands  and  limbs  growing 
warmer.  The  crisis  of  his  disease  was  passed. 
No  dark  river  this  time!  Soon  his  "  glassy" 
eyes  were  closed,  and  in  a  few  moments  he 
began  to  snore!  Disappointed,  I  dropped  that 
black  "  paw,"  and  went  back  to  my  cot.  That 
little  darkey  is  still  alive.  He  often  asked  me 

The  Twin  Hells  8 


114  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

after  that  if  I  wanted  to  take  another  trip  down 
to  "  de  da'k  ribbah!  " 

The  prisoners  who  die  in  the  penitentiary 
are  buried  in  the  graveyard  of  the  institution, 
unless  they  have  friends  who  will  pay  for  the 
removal  of  the  body.  Just  outside  the  prison 
walls  is  the  cemetery.  Its  location  is  a  walnut 
grove  in  a  deep  ravine.  The  first  graves  were 
dug  near  the  eastern  side  of  the  cemetery  and 
as  near  to  each  other  as  possible.  As  fast  as 
this  space  is  filled  with  graves  it  is  covered 
over  many  feet  deep  with  the  slate  and  dirt 
taken  from  the  coal  mines,  a  few  yards  distant. 
Beneath  this  rubbish  will  the  prisoners  sleep 
until  the  trump  shall  sound  and  the  dead  arise. 
Prisoners  dying  are  dressed  in  a  neat  suit  of 
black  clothes,  if  the  body  is  to  be  forwarded 
to  the  friends;  otherwise,  the  burial  suit  con- 
sists of  a  cotton  shirt  and  a  pair  of  drawers  of 
the  same  material.  The  coffin  is  very  plain, 
and  ie  made  in  one  of  the  prison  shops. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ESCAPES   FROM    PRISON. 

OCCASIONALLY  there  is  a  man  shrewd 
enough  to  make  his  escape  from  prison. 
When  a  convict  has  almost  served  out  his  time 
he  is  generally  selected  to  perform  the  duties 
of  a  "  trusty,"  and  allowed  to  go  outside  the 
prison  enclosure.  By  good  conduct  other 
prisoners  gain  the  confidence  of  the  officials, 
and  there  are  instances  where  these  men, 
though  they  may  have  several  months  to  serve, 
are  permitted  to  go  beyond  the  walls,  doing 
duty  for  the  prison.  But  they  are  rare.  Gen- 
erally a  convict,  if  he  has  long  to  serve,  is 
not  trusted  to  any  great  extent.  At  times 
these  "  trusties,"  although  they  may  have  but 
a  few  weeks  to  remain,  cannot  successfully 
resist  the  temptation  to  escape.  Ordinarily  the 
escaped  convict  is  overtaken  and  brought 
back. 

I  recollect  an  instance  where  two  young 
fellows  were  thus  trusted.  One  of  them  had 
two  months  to  serve,  and  the  other  but  twenty- 
seven  days.  They  were  given  employment  at 


Il6  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

the  reservoir,  over  a  mile  from  the  prison.  No 
officer  was  guarding  them.  They  made  an  at- 
tempt to  get  away.  After  being  absent  a  few 
hours  they  were  missed  from  their  post  of  duty. 
The  alarm  was  given,  and  officers  started  in  pur- 
suit. They  were  overtaken  and  caught  about 
five  miles  distant,  hid  in  the  brush.  They  had 
concealed  themselves  in  this  place,  intending 
to  make  their  escape  in  the  darkness  of  the  com- 
ing night.  The  officers  in  search  accidentally 
came  upon  them  in  this  brush  patch.  They 
were  taken  back  to  prison.  They  were  com- 
pelled to  work  for  thirty  days  with  a  ball  and 
chain  attached  to  each  of  their  limbs,  after 
which  they  were  taken  to  Leavenworth,  to  the 
District  Court,  where  they  plead  guilty  to  the 
charge  of  attempting  to  escape  from  the  prison. 
Each  of  them  received  a  sentence  of  one  year 
at  hard  labor  in  the  penitentiary  for  this  foolish- 
ness. After  their  present  sentence  has  expired, 
they  will  have  to  enter  immediately  upon  the 
other  for  trying  to  escape.  At  this  writing, 
both  of  these  convicts  are  digging  coal  in  the 
mines.  They  are  not  trusted  now. 

Another  prisoner,  a  much  older  man  than 
these  two  whom  I  have  described,  tried  to  es- 
cape; he  got  as  far  as  Ohio  before  the  officers 


ESCAPES  FROM   PRISON.  1 1/ 

secured  him.  During  the  late  rebellion  this 
man  was  a  captain  in  the  army.  He  became 
involved  in  a  quarrel  with  some  of  his  relatives 
and  was  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  forgery. 
On  account  of  his  previous  good  character,  on 
coming  to  the  penitentiary  he  was  immediately 
set  to  work  as  a  "  trusty."  Some  few  months 
after  he  was  sent  to  the  Missouri  River,  over  a 
mile  from  the  prison,  to  do  some  work.  No 
officer  was  with  him.  Going  down  to  the 
banks  of  the  river  he  discovered  a  boat  tied  to 
the  shore.  In  a  subsequent  conversation,  he 
told  me  when  he  saw  that  boat  it  suggested  the 
thought  of  escaping.  His  wife  and  children 
were  in  the  State  of  Ohio.  They  had  removed 
there  since  his  conviction.  "  The  boat,"  said 
he,  "  seemed  to  say, '  get  in  and  cross  the  river.' 
I  thought  of  my  family.  Oh,  how  I  longed  to 
be  with  them!  I  could  not  resist  the  tempta- 
tion. I  had  some  old  overalls,  and  I  drew  these 
on  over  the  stripes.  I  got  into  the  boat, 
rowed  across,  and  hid  in  the  woods  on  the 
Missouri  side  until  night.  During  the  night- 
time I  walked,  and  during  the  daytime  would 
lay  by  in  the  woods,  occasionally  going  out  to 
a  house  begging  something  to  eat.  At  last  I 
reached  my  home  in  Ohio.  I  was  footsore 


Il8  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

and  almost  starved  when  I  arrived."  Con- 
tinuing his  narrative,  he  informed  me  that  he 
had  no  peace  of  mind.  He  was  in  constant 
dread  of  pursuing  officers.  Every  man  he  saw 
he  took  to  be  a  detective  in  search  of  him. 
At  last,  so  great  was  his  alarm  and  uneasiness, 
that  he  telegraphed  the  prison  officials  where 
he  was.  The  warden  went  and  brought  him 
back,  For  punishment  he  remained  in  the 
dungeon  several  days  and  nights,  and  wore 
the  ball  and  chain  for  over  a  month.  This 
man  has  not  been  tried  yet  for  making  his 
escape.  It  will  probably  be  overlooked  be- 
cause of  the  change  in  the  prison  administra- 
tion. His  original  sentence  was  five  years. 

Another  prisoner  made  his  escape,  was  away 
for  five  years;  was  then  discovered,  brought 
back,  and  is  at  present  eight  hundred  feet  be- 
\o\v  the  surface,  digging  coal. 

One  day  a  young  man  was  brought  to  the 
penitentiary  under  three  years'  sentence.  He 
was  handsome  and  had  winning  ways.  It  was 
not  long  before  the  officers  had  learned  to  like 
him.  He  was  a  natural  confidence  man.  It 
was  difficult  to  resist  his  influence.  After  he 
had  been  in  the  penitentiary  a  short  time  he 
was  made  a  "  trusty. "  For  awhile  he  was 


ESCAPES  FROM  PRISON.  119 

very  dutiful  and  obedient.  He  was  no  fool. 
He  gained  the  confidence  of  the  officers  so  that 
many  of  them  would  have  confided  their  pocket- 
books  to  his  care.  He  was  permitted  to  go 
beyond  the  prison  walls  to  quite  a  distance. 
Finally  he  walked  off.  That  convict  has  never 
been  heard  of  since.  He  was  a  slick  one. 
After  his  departure  it  was  found  out  that  he 
had  walked  away  from  the  Colorado  prison  in 
the  same  manner. 

The  following  is  an  instance  of  the  shrewd- 
ness practiced  in  effecting  escapes.  A  hog- 
thief  was  convicted  and  sent  to  the  prison. 
He  related  that  while  traveling  through  the 
southern  part  of  Kansas,  a  mere  tramp,  pass- 
ing by  a  farmer's  residence,  he  saw  a  number 
of  hogs  in  a  lot  adjoining  a  grove  some  distance 
to  the  rear  of  the  house.  Passing  up  through 
the  grove,  unperceived,  he  removed  one  of  the 
boards  and  drove  the  hogs  out  through  the 
woods  into  a  small  pond  where  they  covered 
themselves  with  mud.  Then  driving  them 
around  on  to  the  main  traveled  road,  he  started 
with  them  for  town  some  five  miles  off.  As  he 
was  driving  along  the  highway,  the  owner  of 
the  hogs  met  him  and  inquired  where  he  was 
taking  them.  He  replied  that  he  was  going  to 


120  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

market.  The  farmer  said  he  was  making  up  a 
car  load  and  would  give  him  as  much  as  he 
could  get  in  town.  After  some  further  conver- 
sation the  parties  agreed  upon  the  price,  the 
farmer  buying  his  own  hogs  from  the  tramp, 
who  went  on  his  way  rejoicing.  An  hour  or 
two  thereafter  the  farmer,  going  out  into  his 
field  to  see  his  hogs,  found  they  were  gone, 
and  upon  examining  those  recently  purchased, 
which  by  this  time  had  rubbed  all  the  mud  off, 
he  discovered  it  was  his  own  hogs  he  had  pur- 
chased from  the  tramp.  He  immediately  set 
out  in  pursuit  of  the  thief,  whose  whereabouts 
were  soon  determined.  The  thief,  after  receiv- 
ing the  money,  went  to  town,  took  a  train,  but 
stopped  off  at  a  little  place  nearby,  and  instead 
of  secreting  himself  for  a  time,  began  to  drink. 
While  dissipating  he  was  overtaken,  arrested, 
and  held  for  trial.  Had  he  left  whisky  alone, 
he  could  have  escaped.  At  the  trial,  which  soon 
followed,  he  was  convicted  of  grand  larceny, 
and  on  his  arrival  at  the  prison  was  immediately 
put  into  the  coal  mines.  After  working  there 
for  a  week  or  ten  days  he  became  dissatisfied, 
and  decided  to  secure  a  position  on  the  surface. 
One  morning,  as  the  prisoners  were  being  let 
down  into  the  mines,  apparentlv  in  a  fit  he  fell 


ESCAPES   FROM   PRISON.  1 21 

into  the  arms  of  a  prisoner;  when  he  landed  at 
the  bottom  he  was  in  the  worst  part  of  his 
spasm;  the  officer  in  charge  ordered  him  sent 
to  the  top  as  soon  as  he  had  partially  recovered, 
stating  that  it  was  dangerous  to  have  a  man 
working  in  the  mines  who  was  subject  to  fits, 
as  he  might  not  only  kill  himself  but  be  the 
cause  of  the  death  of  others  with  him  in  the 
cage.  To  make  his  case  more  plausible,  when 
the  convict  learned  that  the  officer  had  ordered 
him  to  the  top,  he  began  pleading  to  remain  in 
the  mines  and  work,  stating  that  he  enjoyed  the 
work  and  would  rather  do  service  there  than 
on  the  top.  But  the  officer  persisted;  he  was 
sent  up  and  reported  to  the  deputy  warden, 
who  set  him  to  quarrying  rock.  This  was  no 
better  job  than  working  in  the  coal  mines. 
Providing  himself  for  the  occasion,  by  putting 
a  piece  of  soap  in  his  mouth,  assuming  a  frenzy 
and  frothing  at  the  mouth,  he  would  almost  de- 
ceive a  physician  as  to  the  nature  of  his 
malady.  Later,  it  was  decided  that  he  was 
unable  to  do  duty  on  the  rock  pile,  and  was 
placed  in  the  "  Crank  House  "  with  the  cranks. 
Those  prisoners,  who  have  either  lost  their 
mind  or  are  suffering  with  temporary  insanity, 
not  incurable  insane,  or  wholly  idiotic,  are 


122  THE  TWIN   HELLS 

classed  as  "  cranks,"  and  have  an  apartment  by 
themselves.  As  a  rule  this  class  of  individuals 
are  harmless  and  not  guarded  very  closely. 
Their  cells  are  not  locked  up  until  nine  o'clock 
at  night;  the  others  at  six  o'clock.  During  the 
noon  hour  the  officers  leave  them  alone,  in  fact, 
being  of  a  supposed  harmless  disposition  they 
are  at  no  time  closely  guarded.  This  fello'w 
improved  the  opportunities  afforded  by  the 
noon  hour.  He  would  go  into  one  of  the 
towers  and  work  as  long  as  he  dared  cutting 
the  bars  with  a  saw  he  had  made  out  of  a  knife. 
He  labored  in  this  manner  until  one  of  the  bars 
was  sawed  so  near  off  that  a  little  push  would 
remove  it.  One  afternoon  he  bade  the  other 
cranks  good-bye,  telling  them  he  was  going  to 
fly  that  night.  They  made  sport  of  him, 
thinking  he  was  growing  more  insane.  He 
went  so  far  as  to  say  good-bye  to  the  officer, 
stating  that  he  had  received  a  revelation  from 
God  the  previous  night,  and  that  an  angel  was 
coming  to  liberate  him.  The  officer,  of  course, 
thought  he  was  getting  more  and  more  insane. 
When  night  came  he  slipped  out  of  his  cell  and 
secreted  himself  in  a  portion  of  the  cell  house 
where  it  was  dark,  and  when  the  officer  came  to 
lock  up,  the  crazy  hog-thief  was  not  missed. 


ESCAPES  FROM  PRISON  1 33 

Along  in  the  night  he  pushed  aside  the  bars 
and  made  his  escape.  This  was  the  last  the 
prison  authorities  heard  of  him  until  they 
learned  he  was  arrested  at  St.  Joseph,  Mis- 
souri, and  held  there  on  a  charge  of  grand 
larceny  for  the  same  thing  that  he  was  in  the 
Kansas  penitentiary  —  stealing  hogs.  An 
officer  went  up  there  to  get  and  bring  him 
back  to  the  Kansas  penitentiary,  but  the  St. 
Joseph  authorities  refused  to  give  him  up. 
He  was  tried  there  and  sent  to  the  Missouri 
penitentiary.  After  his  term  expires  in  that 
place  he  will  have  to  serve  out  his  original 
term  in  the  Kansas  penitentiary.  "  The  way 
of  the  transgressor  is  hard,"  even  if  he  does 
pretend  to  have  fits. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  perilous 
attempts  at  escaping  from  the  penitentiary  was 
the  following:  In  the  evening,  after  the  day's 
work  is  over  in  the  mines,  the  convicts  are  all 
lifted  to  the  top,  as  before  stated,  and  remain 
in  their  cells  over  night.  One  Saturday  night 
a  convict,  with  a  twenty  years'  sentence,  re- 
solved that  he  would  remain  in  the  mines,  and 
try  to  effect  his  escape.  He  had  supplied 
himself  with  an  extra  lot  of  bread  and  meat, 
and  hid  himself  in  the  darkness  of  the  mines 


124  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

when  the  men  were  marched  out  in  the  evening 
at  six  o'clock.  When  the  count  of  the  prisoners 
was  made  at  the  evening  lock  up,  this  man  was 
found  missing.  As  he  had  not  been  seen  since 
the  prisoners  were  taken  from  the  mines,  it  was 
believed,  correctly,  that  he  had  remained  below. 
There  was  nothing  done  about  the  matter  that 
night,  the  officers  knowing  there  would  be  no 
opportunity  of  effecting  his  escape  during  the 
night-time,  as  they  had  carefully  closed  the 
shafts  at  the  top.  They  did  not  set  any  watch 
until  the  next  day.  During  that  Saturday 
night  this  convict  climbed  eight  hundred  feet 
to  the  top  of  one  of  the  shafts.  The  wooden 
beams  running  across  the  shaft  are  about  five 
feet  apart.  Standing  erect  on  one  of  these 
beams  he  threw  his  arms  over  the  one  above 
his  head,  and  would  swing  up  to  it.  In  thi^ 
manner  he  worked  his  way  to  the  top  of  the.- 
shaft.  When  he  reached  the  surface  how  great 
was  his  disappointment,  for  instead  of  finding 
the  shaft  open,  as  he  supposed  it  would  be,  he 
found  that  the  cover  was  down  and  that  he  was 
unable  to  get  out  of  the  shaft,  and  thus  out  of 
the  coal  fields  into  the  woods  adjoining.  When 
he  discovered  this  there  was  nothing  to  do  but 
descend.  This  was  a  perilous  undertaking. 


ESCAPES   FROM   PRISON.  125 

The  cross-beams  were  covered  with  oil  whieh, 
dripping  down  from  the  machinery  above, 
made  them  very  slippery.  A  number  of  times 
he  came  near  falling,  and  if  he  had  done  so, 
he  would  have  reached  the  bottom  a  mangled 
mass.  It  required  nearly  the  entire  night  for 
the  ascent  and  descent.  When  he  reached  the 
bottom  he  took  a  lunch  of  bread  and  meat, 
went  to  the  base  of  the  other  shaft,  which  is 
about  one  hundred  yards  distant,  and  began 
his  ascent  of  it,  with  the  hope  he  would  find 
it  open.  It  was  daylight  when  he  reached  the 
top.  Two  officers  had  been  stationed  there  to 
watch  him.  Arriving  at  the  surface  and  just 
ready  to  get  out,  they  took  charge  of,  and 
marched  him  into  the  presence  of  the  deputy 
warden.  When  the  convict  related  the  narrow 
escapes  from  death  in  his  efforts  for  liberty,  the 
deputy  warden  was  so  affected  he  refused  to 
punish  him. 

Out  in  the  world,  with  the  blessings  of  lib- 
erty all  around  us,  we  do  not  realize  the  price- 
less boon  they  are  to  us;  but  when  we  stand 
in  the  presence  of  the  perils  that  are  under- 
taken in  order  to  gain  them  when  deprived  of 
their  benefits,  we  begin  to  comprehend  the  real 
value  of  these  sacred  immunities  of  citizenship. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  PRISONERS. 

THINKING  that  it  may  be  interesting  to  somv 
of  my  readers,  I  will  now  give,  in  brief  form  as 
possible,  a  history  of  some  of  the  most  noted 
inmates  of  the  penitentiary. 

FEMALE  CONVICTS. 

He  must  be  of  a  very  unsympathizing  nature 
who  does  not  feel  for  his  brother,  who,  though 
sinful  and  deserving,  is  imprisoned,  and  ex- 
cluded from  the  society  of  friends.  While  we 
are  sad  when  we  behold  our  fellowmen  in 
chains  and  bondage,  how  much  sadder  do  we 
become  when,  passing  through  the  prisons,  we 
behold  those  of  the  same  sex  with  our  sisters, 
wives  and  mothers.  In  this  land,  blessed  with 
the  most  exalted  civilization,  woman  receives 
our  highest  regard,  affection  and  admiration. 
While  she  occupies  her  true  sphere  of  sister, 
wife  or  mother,  she  is  the  true  man's  ideal  of 
love,  purity  and  devotion.  When,  overcome 
by  temptation,  she  falls  from  her  exalted 
sphere,  not  only  do  men  feel  the  keenest  sor- 


THE  PRISONERS.  127 

row  and  regret,  but,  if  it  is  possible,  the  angels 
of  God  weep. 

In  the  Kansas  penitentiary,  just  outside  the 
high  stone  wall,  but  surrounded  by  a  tight 
board  fence  some  fifteen  feet  high,  stands  a 
stone  structure  —  the  female  prison.  In  this 
lonely  place,  the  stone  building,  shut  out  from 
society,  there  are  thirteen  female  prisoners. 
During  the  week  these  women  spend  their 
time  in  sewing,  patching  and  washing.  But 
very  few  visitors  are  allowed  to  enter  this 
department,  so  that  the  occupants  are  per- 
mitted to  see  very  few  people.  Their  keepers 
are  a  couple  of  Christian  ladies,  who  endeavor 
to  surround  them  with  all  the  sunshine  possi- 
ble. For  these  inmates  the  week  consists  of 
one  continual  round  of  labor.  It  is  wash, 
patch  and  sew  from  one  year's  end  to  the  other. 
The  Sabbath  is  spent  in  reading  and  religious 
exercises.  In  the  afternoon  the  chaplain  visits 
them  and  preaches  a  discourse.  Several  of 
these  women  are  here  for  murder.  When  a 
woman  falls  she  generally  descends  to  the  low- 
est plane. 

A  few  days  before  I  was  discharged,  there 
came  to  the  prison  a  little  old  grandmother, 
seventy  years  of  age.  She  had  lived  with  her 


128  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

husband  fifty-two  years,  was  the  mother  of 
ten  children,  and  had  fifteen  grand-children. 
She  and  her  aged  husband  owned  a  very  beau- 
ful  farm  and  were  in  good  circumstances,  prob- 
ably worth  $50,000.  Her  husband  died  very 
suddenly.  She  was  accused  of  administering 
poison.  After  the  funeral,  she  went  over  into 
Missouri  to  make  her  home  with  one  of  her 
married  daughters.  She  had  not  been  there 
but  a  short  time  when  her  eldest  son  secured 
a  requisition,  and  had  his  aged  mother  brought 
back  to  Kansas  and  placed  on  trial  for  murder. 
She  was  convicted.  The  sentence  imposed, 
was  one  year  in  the  penitentiary,  and  at  the 
end  of  which  time  she  was  to  be  hung  by  the 
neck  until  dead,  which  in  Kansas  is  equivalent 
to  a  life  sentence.  The  old  woman  will  do 
well  if  she  lives  out  one  year  in  prison.  She 
claims  that  her  eldest  son  desires  her  property, 
and  that  was  the  motive  which  induced  him  to 
drag  her  before  the  tribunal  of  justice  to  swear 
her  life  away.  During  her  long  life  of  three 
score  and  ten  years,  this  was  the  only  charge 
against  her  character  for  anything  whatever. 
She  always  bore  a  good  name  and  was  highly 
esteemed  in  the  neighborhood  in  which  she 
lived. 


THE   PRISONERS.  129 

Another  important  female  prisoner  is  Mary 
J.  Scales.  She  is  sixty-five  years  of  age,  and  is 
called  Aunt  Mary  in  the  prison.  She  is  also  a 
murderess.  She  took  the  life  of  her  husband, 
and  was  sentenced  to  be  hung  April  16,  1871. 
Her  sentence  was  commuted  to  a  life  imprison- 
ment. For  eighteen  years  this  old  woman 
has  been  an  inmate  of  the  Kansas  penitentiary. 
While  she  is  very  popular  inside  the  prison,  as 
all  the  officers  and  their  families  are  very  fond 
of  Aunt  Mary,  it  seems  that  she  has  but  few, 
if  any,  friends  on  the  outside.  Several  old 
men  have  been  pardoned  since  this  old  woman 
was  put  into  prison,  and  if  any  more  murderers 
are  to  be  set  at  liberty,  it  is  my  opinion  that  it 
will  soon  be  Aunt  Mary's  turn  to  go  out  into 
the  world  to  be  free  once  more. 

MRS.    HENRIETTA   COOK. 

This  woman  was  twenty-five  years  of  age 
when  she  came  to  the  Kansas  penitentiary  to 
serve  out  a  life's  sentence.  She  was  charged 
with  having  poisoned  her  husband.  For  fif- 
teen years  she  remained  in  close  confinement, 
at  the  end  of  which  time  she  received  a 
pardon,  it  being  discovered  that  she  was  inno- 
cent. When  Mrs.  Cook  entered  the  prison 

The  Twin  Hells.  9 


130  THE   TWIN   HELLS 

she  was  young  and  beautiful,  but  when  she 
took  her  departure  she  had  the  appearance  of 
an  old,  broken-down  woman.  Fifteen  year*  of 
imprisonment  are  sufficient  to  bring  wrinkles 
to  the  face,  and  change  the  color  of  the  hair  to 
gray.  This  prisoner  made  the  mistake  of  her 
life  in  getting  married.  She,  a  young  woman, 
married  an  old  man  of  seventy.  She  was 
poor,  he  was  rich.  After  they  had  been  mar- 
ried a  short  time  she  awoke  one  morning  to 
find  her  aged  husband  a  corpse  at  her  side. 
During  the  night  he  had  breathed  his  last. 
The  tongue  of  gossip  soon  had  it  reported  that 
the  young  and  beautiful  wife  had  poisoned  her 
husband  to  obtain  his  wealth,  that  she  might 
spend  the  rest  of  her  days  with  a  younger  and 
handsomer  man.  After  burial  the  body  was 
exhumed  and  examined.  The  stomach  showed 
the  presence  of  arsenic  in  sufficient  quantity  to 
produce  death.  The  home  of  the  deceased 
was  searched  and  a  package  of  the  deadly 
poison  found.  She  was  tried,  and  sufficient 
circumstantial  evidence  produced  to  secure  her 
conviction,  and  she  was  sent  to  prison  for  life. 
A  short  time  before  this  sad  event  happened, 
a  young  drug  clerk  took  his  departure  from 
the  town  where  the  Cook  family  resided, 


THE   PRISONERS.  131 

where  he  had  been  employed  in  a  drug 
store,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  California. 
After  fifteen  years  of  absence  he  returned. 
Learning  of  the  Cook  murder,  he  went  be- 
fore the  board  of  pardons  and  made  affidavit 
that  the  old  gentleman  was  in  the  habit  of 
using  arsenic,  and  that  while  a  clerk  in  the 
drug  store  he  had  sold  him  the  identical  pack- 
age found  in  the  house. 

Other  evidence  was  adduced  supporting  this 
testimony,  and  the  board  of  pardons  decided 
that  the  husband  had  died  from  an  overdose 
of  arsenic  taken  by  himself  and  of  his  own 
accord.  The  wife  was  immediately  pardoned. 
How  is  she  ever  to  obtain  satisfaction  for  her 
fifteen  years  of  intense  suffering.  The  great 
State  of  Kansas  should  pension  this  poor 
woman,  who  now  is  scarcely  able  to  work; 
and  juries  in  the  future  should  not  be  so  fast 
in  sending  people  to  the  penitentiary  on  flimsy, 
circumstantial  evidence. 

The  other  female  prisoners  are  nearly  all  in 
for  short  terms,  and  the  crime  laid  to  their 
charge  is  that  of  stealing. 

INDIANS   IN   THE   PENITENTIARY. 
John    Washington   and  Simmons    Wolf  *re 


1 32  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

two  young  Indians  tried  and  convicted  in  the 
U.  S.  District  Court  on  the  charge  of  rape. 
They  were  sentenced  to  be  hung.  After  con- 
viction these  Indians  were  taken  to  the  peni- 
tentiary to  await  the  day  set  for  their  execu- 
tion. In  the  meantime  an  application  was 
made  to  the  President  to  change  the  sentence 
of  death  to  that  of  life  imprisonment.  The 
change  was  made.  These  two  Indians  were 
placed  in  the  coal  mines  on  their  arrival,  where 
they  are  at  the  present  time  getting  out  their 
daily  task  of  coal.  They  both  attend  the 
school  of  the  prison,  and  are  learning  very 
rapidly.  Prior  to  this,  Washington  served  out 
a  one-year  sentence  in  the  Detroit  house  of 
correction  for  stealing.  He  is  a  bad  Indian. 

At  present  there  are  fourteen  Indians  incar- 
cerated in  the  Kansas  penitentiary.  The  In- 
dian pines  for  his  liberty  more  than  the  white 
man  or  negro.  The  burdens  of  imprisonment 
are  therefore  greater  for  him  to  bear. 

One  young  Indian  was  sent  to  the  peniten- 
tiary whose  history  is  indeed  touching.  Ten 
Indians  had  been  arrested  in  the  Territory  by 
U.  S.  marshals  for  Ijorse-stealing.  They  were 
tried  and  convicted  in  the  U.  S.  District  Court. 
Their  sentence  was  one  year  in  the  State's 


THE  PRISONERS.  133 

prison.  On  their  arrival  at  the  penitentiary 
they  were  sent  to  the  mines  to  dig  coal.  This 
was  a  different  business  from  being  supported 
by  the  government  and  stealing  horses  as  a  di- 
version. The  Indians  soon  wanted  to  go  home. 
One  of  them  was  unable  to  get  out  his  task  of 
coal.  The  officer  in  charge  thought  he  was 
trying  to  shirk  his  work  and  reported  him  to 
the  deputy  warden.  The  young  Indian  was 
placed  in  the  dungeon.  He  remained  there 
several  days  and  nights.  He  begged  piteously 
to  get  out  of  that  hole  of  torture.  Finally  the 
officers  released  him  and  sent  him  back  to  the 
mines.  While  in  the  dungeon  he  contracted  a 
severe  cold.  He  had  not  been  in  the  mines 
more  than  a  couple  of  days,  after  being  pun- 
ished, when  he  gave  suddenly  out  and  xvas  sent 
to  the  hospital,  where  in  a  few  days  he  died. 
That  young  Indian  was  murdered,  either  in 
that  dungeon  or  in  the  mines.  A  few  weeks 
before,  he  came  to  the  penitentiary  from  roam- 
ing over  the  prairies,  a  picture  of  health.  It 
did  not  take  long  for  the  Kansas  penitentiary 
to  "box  him  up"  for  all  time  to  come.  He 
now  sleeps  "in  the  valley,"  as  the  prison  grave- 
yard is  called. 

Another   one  of  the   same   group    did  not 


134  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

fare  quite  so  badly  as  his  associate.  Th«  one 
I  am  now  describing  was  sent  with  the  rest  of 
his  companions  to  the  bottom  of  the  mines.  He 
remained  there  during  the  first  day.  A  short 
time  after  he  went  down  on  the  following  morn- 
ing he  became  sick.  He  began  to  cry.  The 
officer  in  charge  sent  him  to  the  surface.  He 
was  conducted  to  the  cell-house  officer,  Mr. 
Elliott.  I  was  on  duty  that  day  in  the  cell 
house,  and  Mr.  Elliott,  on  the  arrival  of  the 
Indian,  ordered  me  to  show  him  to  the  hospital. 
After  we  had  started  on  our  journey  from  the 
cell  house  to  the  hospital  building  to  see  the 
doctor,  and  had  got  out  of  hearing  of  the  offi- 
cer, I  said,  "  Injun,  what's  the  matter  with  you?" 
This  question  being  asked,  he  began  to  "  boo- 
hoo  "  worse  than  ever,  and,  rubbing  his  breast 
and  sides  with  his  hands,  said,  between  his  sobs, 
"  Me  got  pecce  ecce. "  I  was  not  Indian  enough 
to  know  what  "  pecce  ecce  "  meant.  In  a  few 
moments  we  reached  the  hospital  building,  and 
I  conducted  my  charge  into  the  nicely  furnished 
room  of  the  prison  physician,  and  into  the  im- 
mediate presence  of  that  medical  gentleman. 
Removing  my  cap,  and  making  a  low  bow,  as 
required,  I  said,  "  Dr.  Nealley,  permit  me 


THE  PRISONERS.  135 

to  introduce  a  representative  of  the  Okla- 
homa district,  who  needs  medical  attention." 

While  I  was  relieving  myself  of  this  little  dec- 
lamation the  young  Indian  was  standing  at 
my  side  sobbing  as  if  he  had  recently  buried 
his  mother. 

"  Reynolds,  what  is  the  matter  with  him?" 
asked  the  doctor. 

I  then  turned  to  my  charge  and  said,  "  Injun, 
tell  the  doctor  what  ails  you." 

Mister  Indian  then  began  rubbing  his  sides 
and  front,  with  tears  rolling  down  his  face,  and 
sobbing  like  a  whipped  school-boy,  he  ex- 
claimed, "  Me  got  pecce  ecce." 

"  There,  doctor, "  said  I,  "  you  have  it.  This 
Indian  has  got  that  dreadful  disease  known  as 
'pecce  ecce.'  ' 

The  physician,  somewhat  astonished,  frankly 
informed  me  that  he  never  had  heard  of  such  a 
disease  before.  I  was  in  a  similar  boat,  for  I 
had  never  heard  of  such  words  prior  to  this. 
The  sick  Indian  was  unable  to  talk  the  language 
of  the  white  man.  The  doctor  then  sent  down 
into  the  mines  for  another  of  the  Indians  who 
could  speak  English  and  had  acted  as  an  inter- 
preter. On  entering  the  office,  the  doctor  said 
to  him,  "  Elihu,"  for  that  was  his  name,  "  this 


136  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

Indian  says  he  has  an  attack   of  pecce  ecce. 
Now  what  does  he  mean  by  that?  " 

During  all  this  time  the  sick  Indian  kept  rub- 
bing his  body  and  sobbing.  What  was  our 
great  astonishment  and  amusement  when  the 
interpreter  informed  us  that  "  pecce  ecce " 
meant  nothing  more  nor  less  than  "  belly-ache. " 
The  doctor  administered  the  proper  remedy  for 
this  troublesome  disease,  and  the  Indian  was 
sent  back  to  the  mines.  He  had  not  dug  coal 
more  than  an  hour  when  he  had  another  attack, 
and  began  his  crying,  and  was  sent  to  the  top. 
He  kept  this  up  until  he  wore  out  the  patience 
of  the  officers,  and  they  finally  decided  to  take 
him  out  of  the  mines  altogether  and  give  him 
work  at  the  surface.  Even  here,  every  few 
minutes  the  Indian  would  have  an  attack  of 
"  pecce  ecce,"  and  would  start  for  the  hospital. 
At  last,  the  chaplain,  taking  pity  on  the  poor 
outcast,  wrote  to  President  Cleveland,  and  put- 
ting the  case  in  a  very  strong  light,  was  suc- 
cessful in  securing  a  pardon  for  the  Indian. 
That  "  cheeky  "  red  youth  was  no  fool.  He 
belly-ached  himself  out  of  that  penitentiary. 
I  trust  I  may  never  have  to  spend  any  more  of 
my  time  in  prison.  If  I  do,  I  think  about  the 


THE    PRISONERS.  137 

first  day  I  will  get  a  dose  of  "  pecce  ecce,"  and 
keep  It  up,  and  see  if  I  can't  get  a  pardon. 

MALE   PRISONERS. 

Ed.  Stanfield. — The  history  of  this  prisoner 
is  as  follows:  He  was  about  nineteen  years  of 
age  when  he  entered  the  prison,  which  was 
some  five  years  ago.  His  people  reside  in 
South  Bend,  Indiana.  His  father,  prior  to  his 
death,  was  a  prominent  judge.  The  family  was 
wealthy,  influential  and  highly  respected.  It 
consisted  of  the  parents  and  two  sons.  Ed. 
proved  to  be  the  black  lamb  of  the  flock.  At 
the  early  age  of  nine  years,  being  sent  away  to 
school,  he  bade  all  good-bye  one  day  and  fol- 
lowed in  the  wake  of  a  circus  show  which  was 
holding  forth  in  the  town  where  he  was  attend- 
ing school.  He  was  not  heard  of  any  more  for 
several  years.  His  parents  spent  vast  sums  of 
money  attempting  to  ascertain  his  whereabouts. 
They  finally  heard  of  him  in  the  following  ac- 
cidental manner:  His  father,  Judge  Stanfield, 
had  been  out  in  Nebraska  looking  after  some 
land  he  had  recently  purchased,  and,  on  his 
return  home,  sitting  in  the  cars,  purchased  a 
newspaper  of  the  newsboy  as  he  came  around. 
Looking  over  the  paper  he  caught  the  name 


138  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

of  his  prodigal  son.  There,  before  him,  was 
the  account  of  his  son  who,  having  knocked 
down  a  prosecuting  attorney  in  broad  daylight 
with  a  coupling  pin,  with  the  intention  of  rob- 
bery, had  been  tried,  convicted  and  sentenced 
to  the  penitentiary  for  ten  years,  and  was  on 
that  day  safely  lodged  behind  the  walls.  The 
sad  father,  on  reaching  home,  dispatched 
his  elder  son  to  the  Kansas  prison  to  ascertain 
if  it  was  his  younger  son  who  was  a  convict. 
The  young  man  came  on  and  soon  satisfied 
himself  of  the  identity  of  the  long-lost  brother. 
He  returned  home  and  made  the  report  to  his 
parents.  From  that  day  Judge  Stanfield  was 
a  broken-hearted  man.  He  soon  grieved  him- 
self to  death  over  the  sad  fate  of  his  boy, 
and  the  disgrace  he  had  brought  upon  the 
family.  In  making  his  will,  however,  he  gave 
Ed.  an  equal  share  in  the  estate  with  his  brother. 
After  the  death  of  the  father,  the  mother  began 
to  put  forth  efforts  to  secure  a  pardon  for  her 
son.  His  crime  was  so  heinous  and  so  un- 
called for  that  it  was  necessary  for  some  time 
to  elapse  before  an  application  was  pre- 
sented. At  the  earliest  moment  possible  the 
wheel  began  to  turn.  The  prosecuting 
attorney  of  Bourbon  County,  who  had  been 


THE  PRISONERS.  139 

knocked    down  with  an   Iron    coupling  pin, 

wai  soon  satisfied,  for  the  family  had  wealth. 
It  is  of  course  unknown  how  much  money  was 
passed  to  him  to  make  his  heart  tender 
and  his  eyes  weep  over  the  erring  child 
that  had  come  so  near  getting  away  with  his 
gold  watch  and  chain.  A  petition  was  soon 
in  circulation  for  his  release,  signed  by  many 
prominent  citizens.  An  open  pocketbook  will 
easily  secure  a  petition  for  pardon,  it  makes 
but  little  difference  as  to  the  gravamen  of  the 
crime.  The  convict  promised  not  to  engage 
again  in  this  pleasant  pastime  for  filthy  lucre. 
The  mother  of  the  young  man  came  on  from 
the  East  and  remained  until  she  had  secured  a 
pardon  for  her  boy.  The  young  man  stated  in 
our  hearing  that  it  took  one  thousand  big  dol- 
lars to  secure  his  pardon.  A  great  many  who 
are  acquainted  with  the  facts  in  the  case  are  not 
slow  in  saying  that  if  Stanfield  had  been  a  poor, 
friendless  boy,  he  never  would  have  received  a 
pardon,  but  would  have  had  to  serve  his  time 
out.  There  are  more  than  five  hundred  men  in 
that  prison  whose  crimes  are  of  a  less  serious 
nature,  and  who  are  far  more  deserving  of  ex- 
ecutive clemency  than  Stanfield.  It  is  said  that 
"  rocks  talk"  in  the  penitentiaries  as  we11  as  on 


140  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

the  outside.  The  history  of  this  criminal  will 
show  my  boy  readers  the  future  of  many  of 
those  who,  in  early  youth,  ran  away  from  home, 
and  go  out  into  the  world  to  mingle  in  bad  com- 
pany. 

Cyrenius  B.  Hendricks.— This  man  was 
sent  from  Chatauqua County.  He  was  twenty- 
seven  years  of  age  when  sentenced.  His  crime 
was  murder  in  the  first  degree.  The  particu- 
lars are  as  follows:  He  had  been  down  to  the 
Indian  Territory  looking  after  his  own  and  his 
father's  cattle.  He  was  absent  on  this  business 
some  little  time.  On  his  return  his  wife  in- 
formed him  that  a  neighbor  had  been  talking 
about  her  in  his  absence,  and  had  given  her  a 
bad  character,  and  that  on  account  of  it  she  had 
become  the  talk  of  the  entire  neighborhood. 
The  enraged  husband  compels  his  wife  to  go 
with  him,  and  they  proceed  to  the  neighbor's 
house.  Hendricks  took  his  gun  with  him. 
When  they  reached  the  neighbor's  gate  they 
halted  and  called  the  unsuspecting  man  out  of 
his  home.  Hendricks  then  asked  him  if  the 
charges  were  true  as  to  his  talking  about  Mrs. 
Hendricks.  The  neighbor  neither  affirmed  nor 
denied  the  statement.  At  this  Hendricks  lev- 
eled his  gun  and  shot  him  dead  on  the  spot.  He 


THE  PRISONERS.  I4l 

and  his  wife  in  a  few  hours  after  were  arrested, 
and,  as  it  was  too  late  to  take  them  to  the 
county  seat  that  night,  they  were  guarded  in  an 
old  log  house  in  the  neighborhood.  Hendricks 
was  fastened  to  the  wall  with  a  log-chain. 
During  the  night  some  one,  supposed  to  be  the 
brother  of  the  murdered  man,  came  to  the  win- 
dow of  the  house  in  which  they  were  confined, 
and,  placing  the  muzzle  of  a  gun  through  the 
window,  shot  Hendricks.  The  ball  struck  hirn 
near  one  of  the  eyes,  rendering  him  blind  in 
that  eye,  but  did  not  kill  him.  The  next  day 
the  two  prisoners  were  taken  to  jail.  They 
were  tried,  and  both  found  guilty  of  murder 
in  the  first  degree.  The  husband  was  sentenced 
to  be  hanged,  while  the  wife  received  a  life  sen- 
tence. They  were  both  taken  to  the  peniten- 
tiary. After  they  had  been  there  a  short  time 
Hendricks  lost  the  other  eye,  from  sympathy, 
as  they  call  it.  For  a  time  the  husband  and 
wife  remained  on  good  terms.  They  were 
allowed  to  visit  each  other  once  a  month. 
After  a  while  she  tired  of  him  and  would  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  him.  She  served 
four  years,  and  received  a  pardon.  Hendricks 
still  remains  in  prison,  and  is  a  pitiable  and 
helpless  wreck.  He  is  totally  blind,  and  his 


142  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

nervous  system  entirely  shattered.  He  can 
scarcely  lift  food  to  his  mouth.  He  is  so  weak 
that  it  is  with  difficulty  he  walks  about  the  prison 
park.  An  aged  prisoner  waits  on  him  con- 
stantly to  care  for  his  wants,  and  to  see  that  he 
does  not  commit  suicide.  Abandoned  by  his 
wife  and  friends,  left  to  his  own  sad  fate, 
totally  blind  and  physically  helpless,  he  is  an- 
other testimonial  to  the  truth  that  "  the  way  of 
the  transgressor  is  hard,"  and  it  also  illustrates 
h^w  much  trouble  may  arise  from  using  that 
litUe  member  called  the  tongue  in  an  indis- 
criminate manner.  Since  my  discharge  from 
the  prison  I  have  learned  of  the  death  of  Hen- 
dricks. 

Ed.  Miner. — One  of  the  men  whose  history 
will  be  interesting  to  the  general  reader  is  Ed. 
Miner.  This  man  is  forty-nine  years  of  age. 
He  served  in  the  Missouri  penitentiary  two 
years  on  the  charge  and  conviction  of  assault 
and  battery  with  intent  to  kill.  After  the  ex- 
piration of  his  sentence,  drifting  down  the  cur- 
rent of  crime,  he  next  embarked  in  stealing 
horses.  He  was  arrested,  tried  and  convicted. 
He  received  a  five  years'  sentence,  served  his 
tim«,  and  went  out  into  th«  world  a  free  man. 
Again  falling  into  bad  company,  he  tries  his 


THE  PRISONERS.  143 

hand  once  more  at  the  same  old  trade  of  riding 
fast  horses,  is  again  caught,  fr-ted,  convicted, 
and  received  another  sentence  of  five  years  in 
the  prison,  which  he  is  now  serving  out.  As  a 
prisoner,  Miner  is  one  of  the  very  best.  He 
never  violates  a  prison  regulation  and  was  never 
known  to  be  punished.  During  the  war  he 
served  his  country  faithfully  ibr  four  years  as  a 
member  of  the  I2th  Illinois  Infantry.  At  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  just  before  the  troops  were 
discharged,  one  day  on  review,  the  governor  of 
the  State  of  Illinois  being  present,  Miner  was 
asked  by  the  commanding  officer  to  step  from 
the  ranks,  and  was  introduced  to  the  governor 
as  the  bravest  and  most  daring  man  in  the  com- 
mand. The  governor  gave  him  a  hearty  shake 
of  the  hand,  and  afterward  sent  him  a  neat 
little  golden  medal  as  a  token  of  his  esteem. 
Miner  now  wears  this  suspended  on  a  small 
gold  chain  about  his  neck.  He  is  very  proud 
of  it.  One  of  our  prison  officers,  Mr.  Elliott, 
was  in  the  army  with  Miner,  and  says  there 
never  was  a  braver  man.  It  may  be  a  sur- 
prise to  the  reader  that  sucii  a  brave  man, 
such  a  bold  defender  of  his  country's  rights, 
would  now  be  rilling  a  felon's  cell.  The 
answer  to  this  is  easily  given.  It  is  all  con- 


144  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

tainedin  the  one  word — liquor.  Miner  loves 
strong  drink,  and  when  he  is  under  its  influence 
appears  to  have  no  sense.  He  is  then  ready 
for  the  commission  of  any  offense,  ready  to 
participate  in  any  kind  of  deviltry.  Were  it 
not  for  this  baneful  appetite  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  he  would  be  a  highly  re- 
spected citizen.  I  asked  him  one  day  what  he 
would  do  when  he  got  out.  His  reply  was, 
"  I  don't  know ;  if  I  could  not  get  the  smell 
of  whisky  I  could  be  a  man  ;  it  has  downed 
me  so  many  times  that  I  fear  my  life  is  now  a 
wreck  ;  the  future  looks  dreary  ;  awful  dreary. " 
With  this  remark  Ed.  went  away  to  attend  to 
his  duties.  My  eyes  followed  the  old  soldier, 
and ,  reader,  do  you  blame  me  when  I  say  to  you 
that  from  within  my  heart  there  came  forth 
the  earnest  desire  that  God  in  some  way 
would  save  that  man,  who,  away  from  strong 
drink  and  the  influence  of  wicked  companions, 
is  a  good-hearted,  generous  man. 

Gordon  Skinner. — A  young  man  of  twenty, 
possessed  of  an  innocent,  boyish  appearance, 
whom  none  would  take  for  a  murderer,  was 
sent  up  from  Ellis  County.  His  victim  was 
Andrew  Ericson,  a  respectable  and  worthy  citi- 
zen about  thirty-seven  years  of  age.  Skinner 


THE   PRISONERS.  145 

claims  the  shooting  was  purely  accidental;  that 
he  was  carelessly  handling  a  six-shooter  when 
it  went  off,  the  ball  striking  Ericson.  He  claims, 
also,  that  he  and  his  victim  were  good  friends, 
and  that  he  never  had  any  intention  of  killing 
him.  The  other  side  of  the  story  is  that  there 
lived  near  Hayes  City  a  beautiful  girl,  and  that 
Skinner  and  Ericson  were  rivals  for  her  heart 
and  hand.  Ericson,  being  much  older  than 
young  Skinner,  possessed  of  some  property, 
and  doubtless  more  skillful  in  the  art  of  winning 
hearts,  was  beginning  to  crowd  his  rival  to  the 
wall.  Young  Skinner,  not  being  able  to  endure 
the  sight  of  his  fair  one  being  thus  ruthlessly 
torn  away  by  an  old  bachelor  of  thirty-seven, 
met  him  one  day  and  the  two  engaged  in  a 
spirited  controversy,  when  Skinner  drew  his 
revolver  and  shot  him.  Ericson  lived  several 
days  afterward.  Just  before  death,  Ericson 
begged  of  his  friends  not  to  have  Skinner  ar- 
rested, stating  he  was  not  to  blame.  Skinner, 
moneyless,  friendless,  a  comparative  strangerin 
the  neighborhood,  his  people  all  residing  in 
Phillips  County,  this  State,  and,  with  the 
prejudices  of  the  Ericson  people  against  him, 
was  tried,  convicted  and  sentenced  to  twenty 
years'  imprisonment.  If  the  Board  of  Par- 

The  Twin  Hells  zo 


146  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

dons  ever  takes  the  trouble  to  investigate  this 
case,  with  a  view  of  tempering  justice  with, 
mercy,  they  will  find  it  worthy.  Skinner  is  a 
good  prisoner,  and  has  ingratiated  himself  irftjthe 
good  opinion  of  the  officers.  But  the  weight 
of  a  twenty  years'  term  is  heavy,  and  is  visibly 
affecting  his  health.  Death  should  not  be 
left  to  accomplish  what  the  Board  of  Pardons 
should  take  pleasure  in  doing.  This  delicate 
boy  should  be  sent  home  to  his  parents. 

FREAKS   OF   JUSTICE. 

'  Robert  W.  Corey  was  sent  from  Wyandotte 
County  with  a  sentence  of  three  years  for  steal- 
ing cattle.  This  is  a  remarkable  case.  Corey 
is  a  blind  man,  and  had  been  totally  blind  for 
thirteen  months  prior  to  his  arrival  at  the 
prison  ;  he  was  a  taxidermist,  and  some  years 
ago  had  taken  a  contract  for  furnishing  stuffed 
birds  for  the  museum  of  the  Agricultural  Col- 
lege of  Ames,  Iowa.  This  business  requires 
the  use  of  arsenic  ;  carelessly  handling  it  de- 
stroyed his  eyesight.  How  a  man,  blind  as  he 
is,  and  was,  at  the  commission  of  the  alleged 
offense,  could  drive  off  and  sell  these  cattle,  is 
a  mystery.  The  man  who  swore  that  he  com- 
mitted the  theft  is  now  an  inmate  of  the  insti- 


THE   PRISONERS.  147 

tution,  sent  here  for  stealing  since  the  arrival 
of  blind  Corey.  This  man  now  says  that  he  is 
not  positive  that  Corey  took  the  cattle.  On 
the  trial,  however,  he  swore  it  was  Corey,  and 
that  he  was  positive  of  that  fact !  About  the 
the  truth  of  the  matter  is,  he  was  the  villain 
that  took  the  cattle  and  swore  it  on  the  blind 
man.  Corey  has  only  a  few  months  to  remain 
in  prison  at  this  writing.  It  is  terrible  to  heap 
such  a  disgrace  upon  as  helpless  a  creature  as 
Corey. 

His  case  calls  to  mind  another  in  the  peni- 
tentiary. He  is  a  colored  man  who  cannot 
write,  by  the  name  of  Thomas  Green,  from 
Fort  Scott,  serving  out  a  five  years'  sentence 
for  forging  a  check  for  $1,368.  He  was  tried, 
convicted,  and  sentenced.  Taking  an  appeal 
to  the  Supreme  Court,  the  judgment  of  the 
lower  court  was  set  aside;  but  at  his  second 
trial,  he  was  found  guilty  again,  and  is  now  in 
prison  serving  out  his  sentence.  How  can  one 
commit  the  crime  of  forgery  who  cannot  write? 
Probably  some  "  Smart  Aleck  "  of  a  district 
judge  can  explain.  I  admit  that  it  is  beyond 
my  powers  of  comprehension.  It  may  be  law, 
but  there  is  not  much  common  sense  in  it. 


148  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

OH  !    RIGHTEOUS   JUDGE ! 

Gus  Arndt  is  the  next.  The  history  of  this 
man  will  show  the  freaks  of  whisky  when 
enclosed  in  the  hide  of  a  raw  Dutchman.  Gus 
came  to  this  country  a  number  of  years  ago, 
and  went  to  work  for  his  uncle  in  Wabaunsee 
County.  Not  being  able  to  speak  English,  his 
uncle  took  advantage  of  him,  no  doubt,  for  he 
paid  him  only  ten  dollars  a  month  for  his  serv- 
ices as  a  farm  hand  during  the  summer  season, 
and  nothing  but  his  board  during  the  winter. 
Gus  remained  here  for  some  time,  three  or  four 
years,  working  at  these  wages.  He  had  learned 
and  could  understand  and  speak  English  a  little. 
One  day  as  he  was  pitching  grain  in  the  field 
an  Irishman  came  by  who  resided  on  a  farm  a 
few  miles  distant.  Needing  a  hand  and  notic- 
ing that  Arndt  handled  himself  in  a  satisfactory 
manner,  he  offered  him  twenty  dollars  per  month 
to  go  and  work  for  him.  Arndt  accepted  his 
proposition,  and  agreed  to  report  at  the 
Irishman's  farm  the  following  Monday,  this 
being  Thursday  when  the  bargain  was  made. 
That  night  the  German  settled  up  with  his 
uncle,  and  received  the  balance  of  his  wages, 
cme  $75.  He  had  been  in  America  long  enough 


THE   PRISONERS.  149 

to  reach  that  point  in  our  civilization  that,  after 
working  awhile,  and  getting  a  balance  ahead, 
he  must  take  a  rest  and  go  on  a  "  spree."  He 
started  for  the  nearest  town.  For  a  couple  of 
days  he  fared  sumptuously,  constantly  drinking. 
He  at  length  reached  a  point  below  zero.  Half 
crazed,  he  staggers  off  to  the  fence  across  the 
way  where  the  farmers  who  had  come  to  town 
to  do  their  shopping  on  Saturday  had  hitched 
their  teams,  and,  untying  a  horse  that  was 
hitched  to  a  buggy,  Gus  thought  he  would  take 
aride.  Lumbering  into  the  buggy,  as  a  drunken 
man  can,  he  drove  down  the  main  street  of 
the  town  in  broad  daylight  and  out  into  the 
country.  In  an  hour  or  so  the  owner  getting 
ready  to  return,  misses  his  horse  and  buggy. 
Making  numerous  inquiries  about  them  and 
getting  nothing  satisfactory,  he  places  the  mat- 
ter in  the  hands  of  a  sheriff,  who  commences 
a  search  for  the  missing  property.  Not  finding 
it  in  town  he  sends  men  out  on  the  roads  lead- 
ing to  the  country,  himself  taking  one.  In  a 
very  short  time  he  overtakes  the  noted  horse- 
thief.  Gus  was  sitting  in  the  buggy  sound 
asleep;  the  lines  were  hanging  down  over  the 
dashboard,  and  the  old  horse  was  marching 
along  at  a  snail's  pace.  He  was  ou*  some 


150  THE  TWIN    HELLS. 

two  miles  from  town,  and,  no  doubt,  had 
traveled  at  this  gait  all  the  way.  He  was 
faced  about,  and,  assisted  by  the  sheriff,  drove 
back  to  town.  He  was  then  placed  under 
arrest  and  sent  to  jail,  subsequently  had  his 
trial,  and  for  this  little  drive  was  sent  to  the 
penitentiary  for  five  years.  Of  a  more  unjust 
sentence  I  never  heard.  Gus  served  his  time 
out  and  a  better  behaved  person  was  never 
behind  the  walls.  When  he  regained  his 
liberty,  instead  of  returning  to  Wabaunsee 
County,  and  to  his  uncle's  house,  he  finds  his 
way  to  Marysville,  Kansas.  Here  reside  a 
number  of  prosperous  German  farmers,  and 
the  ex-convict  soon  got  work.  When  he 
applied  for  work  he  forgot  to  tell  his  employer 
that  he  had  just  finished  up  a  contract  for  the 
State  of  Kansas.  Some  months  had  elapsed 
and  Gus  had  worked  hard  amd  industriously, 
had  accumulated  a  neat  little  sum  of  money, 
and  began  to  feel  happy  once  more.  At  this 
time  a  man  passed  through  the  country  that 
was  acquainted  with  Arndt's  antecedents,  and 
being  a  dirty  dog  he  thought  it  was  his  duty  to 
inform  the  farmer  that  his  hired  man  was  an 
ex-convict,  horse-thief  and  a  desperado  of  the 
worst  type.  Some  men  are  so  officious  and  are 


THE  PRISONERS.  *5I 

w«  Anxious  to  do  their  duty  when  it  is  in  their 
power  to  injure  a  fellow-man  who  is  trying  to 
earn  an  honest  living.  Gus  immediately  got 
the  "bounce."  He  was  informed  by  his  em- 
ployer that  he  did  not  want  to  make  his  home 
a  harbor  for  horse-thieves.  Gus  took  his  wages 
and  clothes  and  started  for  Marysville,  He 
could  not  bear  the  idea  of  being  discharged 
because  of  his  former  misfortune.  He  again 
applies  to  the  bottle  for  consolation.  He  goes 
on  another  spree.  When  crazed  with  liquor 
he  acted  just  as  he  did  before  ;  he  goes  to  a 
hitching  post,  and  unties  a  team  of  horses 
attached  to  a  buggy.  One  of  the  horses  had 
had  its  leg  broken  at  some  former  time,  and 
was  almost  worthless,  while  the  other  one 
was  very  old.  He  seemed  to  select  the  very 
worst  team  he  could  find.  Maybe  it  was  the 
buggy  he  was  after  !  He  was  orobably  very 
tired  and  wanted  an  easy  place  to  rest.  He 
unhitched  them  just  as  if  tney  had  been  his 
own.  It  was  in  the  afternoon.  The  streets 
were  full  of  people.  Gus  crawled  into  the 
buggy  in  his  half  drunken  manner  and  started 
off  down  the  road.  When  found  by  the  sheriff 
some  two  hours  after  he  had  gone,  about  half 
a  mile  from  town,  the  old  horses  were  stand- 


t$2  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

ing  at  one  side  of  the  road  and  the  drunken 
Dutchman  'was  lying  in  the  buggy  sound 
asleep,  with  one  bottle  of  whisky  un- 
corked, the  contents  of  which  had  run  out  and 
over  his  clothes,  and  another  bottle  in  his 
pocket  untouched.  He  had  evidently  gone  out 
for  a  drive.  He  was  taken  to  jail,  and  the 
news  soon  spread  that  he  was  an  ex-convict 
and  horse-thief.  He  was  tried  on  a  charge  of 
stealing  horses,  and  was  returned  to  the  peni- 
tentiary for  a  term  of  two  years.  Here  were 
seven  years'  service  for  two  drunks!  Ancient 
Jacob,  "  how  tuff !  "  After  Gus  had  completed 
his  narration  to  me  he  wound  up  by  saying, 
M  Ven  I  shall  oudt  git  this  time,  I  let  von  visky 
alones." 

BOVINE  TROUBLE. 

Woodward  R.  Lopeman  was  sent  up  from 
Neosho  County  for  murder  in  the  first  degree. 
Under  his  sentence  he  was  to  be  hanged  at  the 
close  of  the  first  year.  This  part  of  the  sen- 
tence is  never  carried  out  in  Kansas.  The  par- 
ticulars of  his  crime  are  as  follows:  He  was  a 
well-to-do  farmer  residing  in  Neosho  County, 
and  never  had  any  difficulty  to  amount  to  any- 
thing before  this  time.  He  was  an  old  soldiei 


THE   PRISONERS.  I  53 

and  served  his  country  faithfully  and  bravely 
for  four  years.  For  some  trivial  cause  he  and 
one  of  his  neighbors  had  a  little  difficulty,  but 
it  was  thought  nothing  would  ever  come  of  it, 
as  each  of  them  had  been  advised  by  their 
friends  to  bury  their  animosity  before  it  should 
lead  to  graver  results.  Lopeman  seemed  will- 
ing to  do  this,  but  his  irate  neighbor  would  not 
meet  him  half  way.  One  day  a  calf  of  Lope- 
man's,  worth  but  a  few  dollars,  got  through  the 
fence  and  over  into  his  neighbor's  pasture. 
Word  was  sent  to  the  owner  of  the  calf  that  if 
he  would  come  over  and  pay  damages  for  the 
trouble  of  penning  it  up  he  could  have  his  prop- 
erty. This  had  a  tendency  to  arouse  a  bad  feel- 
ing in  the  heart  of  Lopeman ;  so,  placing  his  re- 
volver in  his  pocket,  and  asking  his  grown  up 
son  to  accompany  him,  they  went  to  the  house 
of  the  neighbor  and  directly  to  the  lot  where 
the  calf  was  shut  in  and  commenced  to  lay 
down  the  bars  to  let  it  out,  when  the  neighbor 
came  from  the  house  with  his  son,  and  Lope- 
man was  ordered  to  leave  the  bars  alone.  The 
neighbor,  who  was  a  strong,  muscular  man, 
proceeded  to  chastise  Lopeman;  the  two  sons 
also  got  ready  for  an  encounter.  Lopeman,  be- 
ing by  far  the  smaller  man  of  the  two,  began  to 


154  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

retreat  slowly  as  his  enemy  advanced  brandish- 
ing a  club.  When  almost  near  enough  Lope- 
man  to  strike  him  with  the  uplifted  club,  Lope- 
man,  in  self-defense,  as  he  claims,  drew  his  re- 
volver and  shot  him.  He  fell  lifeless  to  the 
ground.  The  son  of  the  murdered  man  per- 
ceiving what  was  done,  ran  quickly  into  the 
house,  and  getting  a  double-barreled  shotgun, 
came  out  and  fired  twice  at  Lopeman  and  his 
son.  The  shots  did  not  take  effect.  Lope- 
man fired  two  shots  at  him.  At  this  the  son  re- 
tired into  the  house,  and  Lopeman  and  son  tak- 
ing the  almost  worthless  calf,  which  had  been 
the  cause  of  so  much  trouble,  went  to  their 
home.  Lopeman  then  went  to  the  county  seat 
and  gave  himself  up  to  the  authorities.  As 
soon  as  the  news  spread  over  the  neighborhood, 
excitement  ran  high  and  there  was  loud  talk  of 
lynching.  The  murdered  man  was  very  popu- 
lar. His  old  neighbors  smelled  blood,  and  it 
was  with  some  difficulty  that  they  were  pre- 
vented from  taking  the  law  into  their  own  hands. 
Better  judgment  prevailed,  however,  and  after 
six  months  the  trial  came  off  and  the  murderer 
was  convicted  and  sentenced  as  aforesaid.  This 
man  was  my  cell  mate.  He  is  5omething  over 
sixty  years  of  age,  of  medium  height,  and  dur- 


THE   PRISONERS.  1 55 

ing  his  younger  days  must  have  been  very  hard 
to  handle.  The  first  evening  we  occupied  the 
cell  together  he  told  me  of  all  his  troubles,  and 
I  learned  from  his  own  lips  that  I  was  to  room 
with  a  murderer.  I  felt  I  would  much 
rather  be  at  home,  than  locked  in  that  4x7  cell 
with  a  man  whose  hands  were  dyed  with  the 
blood  of  his  neighbor.  My  alarm  somewhat 
subsided  when  the  time  came  for  retiring.  The 
old  man,  as  solemnly  as  the  Apostle  Paul 
would  have  done,  took  down  the  Bible,  read 
a  few  verses,  and  then  knelt  down  and  prayed. 
I  sat  there  in  mute  astonishment  at  the  pro- 
ceedings of  this  gray  haired  criminal.  How 
was  it  possible  for  a  man  who  was  guilty  of 
such  a  grave  crime  to  be  devout.  He  often 
told  me  that  he  had  no  consciousness  whatever 
of  guilt,  nor  the  fear  and  dread  of  a  murderer. 
I  asked  him  if  in  his  dreams  he  could  not  often 
see  the  face  of  his  victim.  With  a  shrug  of 
the  shoulders  he  admitted  that  he  could.  For 
six  months  this  old  man  and  myself  occupied 
that  small  cell  together,  so  small  that  it  was 
very  difficult  for  us  to  get  by  each  other  when 
the  sleeping  bunks  were  down.  We  never  had 
the  least  trouble  during  the  entire  time.  A 
kinder  hearted  man  I  never  met.  Whenever 


156  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

he  received  any  little  delicacies  from  home  he 
would  always  divide  with  me,  and  in  such  a 
cheerful  spirit  that  I  soon  came  to  think  a  good 
deal  of  the  old  man.  If  we  had  both  been  on 
the  outside  world  I  would  not  have  desired  a 
kinder  neighbor.  His  son,  later  on,  was  con- 
victed as  an  accomplice,  and  sent  up  for  two 
years.  The  old  man  has  hopes  of  a  pardon  in 
a  few  years.  He  has  a  wife  and  several  chil- 
dren who  are  highly  respected  and  much  be- 
loved in  the  neighborhood  where  they  reside. 
They  have  the  sympathy  of  all  their  neighbors 
in  this  affliction  and  bereavement. 

WHISKY    AND    WOMEN. 

Doc.  Crunk. —  One  of  the  many  despera- 
does now  behind  the  prison  walls  of  the  Kan- 
sas penitentiary  is  this  noted  Texas  out- 
law. He  is  a  native  Texan,  now  nearly 
fifty  years  of  age.  After  years  of  crime  he 
was  finally  caught  in  the  Indian  Territory  while 
introducing  whisky  among  the  Indians.  He 
had  his  trial  in  the  U.  S.  District  Court,  was 
convicted  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for 
three  years.  For  a  time  during  the  war  he 
was  a  confederate  soldier.  Becoming  dis- 
satisfied with  the  profession  of  arms,  he  de- 


THE   PRISONERS.  157 

sorted  and  entered  upon  the  life  of  an  outlaw. 
He  gathered  about  him  a  few  kindred  spirits 
with  which  Southern  Texas  was  infested,  and 
organized  a  band  of  cattle  and  horse  thieves, 
This  band  of  banditti  became  so  numer- 
ous that  after  a  time  it  extended  along 
the  lower  line  of  Texas  into  the  In- 
dian Territory  and  up  into  Kansas.  Their 
ravages  were  also  felt  in  Arkansas.  They  had 
a  regular  organized  band,  and  stations  where 
they  could  dispose  of  their  stolen  property. 
The  cattle  that  were  stolen  -were  run  to  the 
frontiers  and  sold  to  cattlemen  who  were  in  col- 
lusion with  them,  and  which  latter  were  getting 
immensely  rich  out  of  the  operations  of  these 
thieves.  They  would  steal  horses,  run  them  off 
and  sell  them  to  buyers  who  knew  they  were 
purchasing  stolen  property.  For  years  this 
gang  flourished.  Another  mode  of  securing 
stock  was  the  following:  A  great  many  estrays 
would  betaken  up  and  advertised.  In  every 
instance  some  member  of  the  Crunk  gang 
would  claim  the  property  under  oath  and  take 
it  away.  The  leader  of  these  outlaws  stood 
trial  for  nineteen  different  murders,  and  was  ac- 
quitted each  time.  He  could  always  prove  an 
alibi.  His  assistants  would  come  in  and  swear 


158  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

him  clear  every  time.  He  was  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance and  on  friendly  terms  with  the  James 
boys,  and  related  many  trips  that  he  had  made 
with  these  noted  and  desperate  men  in  their 
work  ~of  "  seeking  revenge,"  as  he  styled  it. 
He  has  no  love  for  a  colored  man,  and  as  he 
works  now  in  the  prison  with  a  number,  point- 
ing to  them  one  day  he  said  to  me,  "  I  wish  I 
had  a  five -dollar  note  for  each  one  of  them 
black  skunks  I  have  killed  since  the  wa'. "  He 
said  he  considered  "  a  '  niggah  '  that  wouldn't 
vote  the  way  decent  people  wanted  him  to 
should  not  vote  at  all."  Said  he:  "I  know  of  a 
number  that  will  not  vote  any  mo'.  I  saw  them 
pass  in  their  last  ballot."  "  The  most  money, 
made  the  easiest  and  quickest,  was  made  by  our 
men,"  said  he,  "  as  moonshiners  in  Montague 
County.  We  carried  on  this  business  success- 
fully for  a  long  time,  but  finally  the  U.  S.  mar- 
shals became  too  much  for  us,  and  we  had  to 
close  up  shop.  We  had  several  engagements 
with  them;  men  were  dropped  on  both  sides, 
until  finally  we  concluded  to  quit  the  business 
and  return  to  our  old  trade  of  stealing  cattle 
and  horses.  The  way  our  moonshiner's  nest 
was  found  out  was  very  romantic.  A  young 
woman  came  into  the  district,  and  tried  to  get 


THE  PRISONERS.  159 

up  a  school,  seemingly,  but  failed.  I  guess  she 
did  not  try  very  hard  to  get  scholars.  At  any 
rate  she  remained  with  a  family  in  the  neigh- 
borhood for  some  time,  whom  she  claimed  were 
her  relatives.  One  of  my  men  fell  desperately 
in  love  with  this  young  woman.  He  would  be 
out  riding  with  her,  and,  as  none  of  us  suspected 
anything,  he  would  at  times  bring  her  over  to 
our  camp,  and  we  taught  her  how  to  make 
whisky.  She  seemed  deeply  interested  in  the 
business.  I  told  the  boys  several  times  that  I 
was  a  little  afraid  of  that '  gal, 'but  they  laughed 
at  me,  and  so  I  said,  '  I  can  stand  it  if  the  rest 
of  you  can.'  She  even  went  so  far  as  to  be- 
come familiarly  acquainted  with  all  of  us. 
We  all  got  to  thinking  that  she  was  a  nice 
young  woman,  and  her  lover  simply  thought 
he  had  secured  the  finest  prize  in  the  world. 
But  alas!  At  the  proper  time  she  fixed  our 
camp.  She  proved  to  be  a  female  detective 
from  New  York  city.'  She  gave  away  our  fel- 
lows, and  soon  we  were  surrounded  by  a  posse 
of  U.  S.  marshals  and  their  deputies.  Her 
lover  was  captured  and  is  now  in  the  Texas 
penitentiary.  Several  of  our  boys  were  killed 
or  wounded,  and  those  of  us  who  escaped  made 
up  our  minds  to  go  back  to  the  old  cattle 


160  THE   TWIN    HELLS. 

trade."  "  What  are  you  going  to  do,  Doc.," 
said  I,  "when  you  get  out  of  this  place?" 
"  Going  back  to  Texas;  hunt  up  the  boys,  and 
see  if  we  can't  find  some  more  horses  and 
cattle.  One  thing  is  certain  I  will  never  go  to 
another  penitentiary.  I  will  swallow  a  dose  of 
cold  lead  first." 

And,  with  this,  the  famous  outlaw  went  off 
to  his  room  in  the  mine  to  get  out  his  task 
of  coal  to  keep  from  being  punished.  Of 
the  nine  hundred  criminals  in  the  prison, 
probably  there  is  not  one  of  them  who  has 
seen  so  much  of  a  life  of  crime  as  the  famous 
Doc.  Crunk. 

EIGHT   TIMES    A   CONVICT. 

Thomas  A.  Currens. —  One  of  the  most 
unique  characters  to  be  found  in  the  striped 
ranks  of  the  Kansas  penitentiary  is  that  of  the 
man  who  is  herein  described.  This  convict  is 
fifty-two  years  of  age,  and  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky. His  life,  save  a  short  time  spent  in  the 
army,  has  been  one  of  crime.  He  was  a  cour- 
ageous lad.  Leaving  his  home  at  the  early  age 
of  ten  years,  thus  deprived  of  all  parental  pro- 
tection and  restraints,  he  formed  bad  associa- 
tions, an«**  -soon  his  future  career  was  in  the  di- 


THE   PRISONERS.  l6l 

rection  of  crime.  The  greater  part  of  his 
boyhood  was  spent  in  city  and  county  jails  and 
reform  schools.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two 
years  he  was  convicted  on  a  charge  of  horse- 
stealing  and  sent  to  the  Frankfort,  Ky.,  peni- 
tentiary for  six  years.  After  serving  four  years 
he  was  pardoned  by  the  Legislature.  He  re- 
mained out  of  prison  for  the  two  following 
years.  We  next  find  him  in  "  limbo  "  in  Indi- 
ana. He  was  arrested,  and  twenty  different 
charges  were  preferred  against  him.  By  plead- 
ing guilty  to  the  count  of  stealing  a  wagon,  the 
court  dismissed  the  other  cases  and  gave  him  a 
sentence  of  three  years  at  hard  labor.  He  was 
taken  to  the  State's  prison.  Shortly  after  his 
arrival  he  was  put  to  work  running  an  engine 
during  the  night-time.  After  five  months  had 
passed  away,  Thomas,  reaching  the  conclusion 
that  he  did  not  enjoy  watching  over  an  engine 
during  the  lonely  hours  of  the  night,  determined 
to  escape.  Stealing  an  old  suit  of  clothes  be- 
longing to  an  officer,  which  he  drew  on  over 
his  suit  of  stripes,  he  scaled  the  walls  and  was 
once  more  a  free  man.  It  was  a  cold  winter's 
night.  After  traveling  some  distance  through 
the  woods  his  feet  were  almost  frozen.  Day- 
light was  now  approaching.  He  must  find  a 

The  Twin  Hells  1 1. 


1 62  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

place  of  hiding  during  the  coming  day.  In  a 
few  hours  he  would  be  missed  at  the  peniten- 
tiary. The  alarm  being  given,  the  usual  re- 
ward being  offered,  scores  would  be  on  the 
lookout  for  him.  Approaching  a  farmyard,  he 
sat  down  and  cut  up  his  striped  pantaloons  and 
wrapped  up  his  almost  frozen  feet.  He  then 
crawled  under  a  hay-stack.  In  this  place  he 
came  near  being  discovered,  for  in  a  couple  of 
hours  the  farmer  came  out  to  feed  his  cattle, 
and  as  chance  would  have  it  took  the  hay  from 
the  stack  under  which  the  convict  was  secreted. 
As  he  was  removing  the  hay,  several  times 
prongs  of  the  fork  sank  deep  enough  to  pene- 
trate the  flesh  of  the  runaway.  He  endured 
this  pitchfork  probing  heroically  while  it  lasted, 
and  was  thankful  when  the  cattle  had  received 
sufficient  provender.  Here  he  remained  until 
nightfall.  He  did  not  renew  his  journey  until 
the  farmer  and  his  family  had  retired  and  were 
in  the  land  of  dreams.  Almost  starved,  unin- 
vited he  enters  the  kitchen  and  helps  himself  to 
what  he  can  find.  His  hunger  being  appeased, 
his  old  habit  of  taking  things  that  he  should 
leave  alone,  forced  him  into  the  bed-room  of  the 
sleeping  farmer,  and  forced  his  hand  into  the 
pocket  of  the  aforesaid  granger's  pantaloons, 


THE   PRISONERS.  163 

from  which  he  took  his  pocketbook  containing 
twenty  dollars  in  money.  He  was  now  pre- 
pared for  traveling.  Continuing  his  journey  for 
several  miles,  becoming  very  tired,  he  decided 
not  to  walk  any  longer  as  there  was  so  much 
good  horse-flesh  in  the  vicinity.  Near  the  hour 
of  midnight,  this  weary  tramp  entered  the  farm- 
yard of  a  wealthy  old  Indiana  farmer,  and 
going  into  the  barn  led  out  one  of  his  fleetest 
steeds.  Once  more  astride  a  good  horse, 
Thomas  felt  like  a  free  man.  During  the  rest 
of  the  night  he  made  good  headway,  and  by 
the  morning  sun  was  up  the  rider  and  horse 
were  many  miles  away  from  the  place  where 
first  they  met.  Entering  a  small  village,  the 
horse  was  fed  and  nicely  groomed.  At  the 
same  time  Thomas  partook  of  a  good  breakfast, 
which  he  heartily  enjoyed.  The  fates  seemed 
to  favor  the  man  of  crime.  It  is  an  old  saying: 
"  The  devil  looks  after  his  own."  A  horse- 
buyer  had  arrived  in  the  village  a  few  days 
before.  When  the  noon  train  came  whistling 
up  to  the  station,  the  convict  having  converted 
his  horse  into  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
dollars,  purchased  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  a  silk 
hat,  and  a  pair  of  kid  gloves,  and,  representing 
himself  to  be  a  traveling  salesman,  getting 


164  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

aboard,  soon  reaches  Chicago,  where,  soon 
after  his  arrival,  he  joined  a  band  of  crooks. 
He  was  never  discovered  by  the  Indiana  prison 
officials.  Fifteen  years  after  his  escape,  he  got 
a  "  pal "  to  wire  the  authorities  of  the  Indiana 
penitentiary,  and  inquired  of  them  what  reward 
they  would  pay  for  the  return  of  Thomas  A. 
Currens,  a  convict  who  had  effected  his  escape 
many  years  before.  An  answer  came  that  if 
he  would  remain  out  of  the  State,  he  would 
never  be  molested. 

Wandering  about  several  months  after  his 
escape,  he  arrives  in  Sedalia,  Missouri.  Among 
other  little  articles  he  was  accused  of  stealing 
at  this  place  was  an  eight  hundred  dollar  ba- 
rouche, the  property  of  Judge  Ferguson,  of 
that  place.  Again  this  noted  thief  was  arrested 
and  confined  in  the  county  jail  to  await  trial. 
He  was  not  anxious  for  trial,  for  he  knew  the 
"  yawning  pen  "  was  waiting  to  receive  him. 
For  eleven  months  he  remained  in  this  jail,  hav- 
ing his  trial  continued  from  term  to  term.  When 
his  case  was  called  up  for  the  first  time  he 
feigned  sickness.  The  next  time  one  of  the 
principal  witnesses  was  absent,  and  thus  for 
eleven  months  his  case  was  continued.  Thomas 
now  yearned  for  freedom.  How  to  get  out  of 


THE   PRISONERS.  165 

that  jail  was  the  problem.  Another  term  of 
court  would  soon  convene.  He  had  no  grounds 
for  further  continuance.  Fortune  favored  him. 
At  this  time  a  man  was  arrested  and  placed  in 
the  same  cell  with  Currens.  The  face  of  the 
new  arrival  was  covered  over  with  blotches. 
The  next  morning  Currens  in  a  confidential 
manner  stated  to  the  sheriff  that  his  cell  mate 
had  the  small-pox.  Being  interrogated  the 
prisoner  said  he  had  been  exposed  recently,  and 
a  physician  being  called,  on  examination  it  was 
decided  to  remove  him  to  the  pest-house.  Cur- 
rens was  sent  along  on  account  of  his  exposure 
to  the  contagion.  An  officer  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  two  jail-birds  at  the  pest-house. 
During  the  night  following  their  arrival  at  this 
out-of-the-way  place,  the  officer  was  pounced 
upon  by  the  two  desperate  criminals,  bound 
hand  and  foot,  and  with  a  large  cork  placed  be- 
tween his  teeth,  was  gently  laid  on  the  floor. 
His  gold  watch  and  chain,  and  all  the  loose 
change  he  had  with  him  were  taken  from  his 
person,  and  the  two  small-pox  patients  walked 
forth  into  the  darkness  and  gloom  of  that 
night  unattended  by  any  friendly  official. 

Thomas  never  believed  in  criminals  travel- 
ing in  groups,  so  he  bade  his  companion  an  af- 


1 66  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

fcctionate  farewell.  Wending  his  way  to  the 
southwestern  portion  of  the  State  he  was  ar- 
rested for  additional  crimes  and  misdemeanors. 
Knowing  that  the  officers  had  not  sufficient  evi- 
dence against  him  he  bravely  stood  trial  and 
was  acquitted.  However,  as  he  was  going 
forth  from  his  prison  cell  a  free  man,  much  to 
his  surprise,  an  official  from  Sedalia  put  in  an 
appearance  and  took  him  back  to  the  scene  of 
his  small-pox  escapade.  At  his  trial  he  was 
convicted  and  received  a  sentence  of  six  and 
one-half  years.  He  now  took  a  cell  in  the  Jef- 
ferson City  penitentiary.  After  four  years  of 
imprisonment  this  notorious  criminal  makes  an 
application  for  pardon,  setting  up  an  alibi  as  the 
basis  of  the  application,  and  succeeded  in  influ- 
encing the  Governor  to  believe  the  testi- 
mony, and  was  set  at  liberty,  promising  that  he 
would  leave  the  State  of  Missouri,  never  to  re- 
turn. The  conscience  of  the  said  Thomas 
never  troubled  him  over  failing  to  keep  his 
word  with  the  officers  of  the  law.  He  did  not 
leave  Missouri,  as  he  agreed,  but  betook  him- 
self to  the  pleasant  little  city  of  Carthage. 
Scarcely  three  moths  had  elapsed  before  he 
found  himself  again  in  durance  vile  for  stealing 
horses.  H«  was  tried,  convicted  and  returned 


THE  PRISONERS.  1^7 

to  Jefferson  City  penitentiary  under  a  sentence 
of  six  years.  He  took  an  appeal  to  the 
Supreme  Court.  The  judgment  of  the  lower 
court  was  reversed.  He  was  taken  back  to 
Carthage  for  another  trial,  and  was  convicted 
the  second  time,  and  again  received  a  sentence 
of  six  years  at  hard  labor  in  the  penitentiary. 
As  before,  he  appealed  the  case,  and  the  gov- 
ernor, thinking  the  State  was  getting  the  worst 
of  the  matter,  and  that  a  large  amount  of  costs 
were  being  made,  pardoned  the  convict  under 
another  promise  that  he  would  leave  the  State. 
Currens,  now  following  Greeley's  advice,  turns 
his  eyes  toward  the  setting  sun.  He  crosses 
the  Big  Muddy,  and  plants  his  feet  upon  the 
sacred  soil  of  Kansas.  He  makes  a  raid  upon 
Lawrence,  breaks  into  a  house,  and  is  caught 
in  the  act  of  trying  to  carry  off  the  household 
goods.  A  courteous  policeman  takes  charge  of 
him  —  now  deeply  steeped  in  crime — soonland- 
ing  him  behind  the  bars.  In  the  presence  of 
the  court  he  next  makes  a  solemn  statement 
that,  prior  to  this,  he  had  been  a  Sunday-school 
teacher;  that  misfortune  had  overtaken  him, 
and  h«  was  forced  to  enter  some  friend's 
kitchen  or  starve.  Those  who  listened  to  his 
pathetic  appeal  inform  me  that  the  stern  judge 


1 68  THE   TWIN    HELLS. 

was  moved  to  tears,  and  that  while  he  had  con- 
templated giving  the  wayward  Thomas  six 
years,  he  made  it  three.  This  was  the  first  in- 
troduction of  our  hero  to  the  principal  brown 
stone  front  of  Lansing.  It  was  not  long  after 
his  arrival  at  the  Kansas  penitentiary  before  he 
gained  the  confidence  of  the  authorities,  and 
was  made  a  "  trusty."  He  had  an  easy  place 
given  him. 

His  three  years'  sentence  soon  passed  away. 
His  term  was  reduced  three  months  because  of 
his  excellent  conduct  while  in  prison.  Bearing 
with  him  the  good  wishes  of  a  majority  of  the 
prison  officials,  and  followed  by  the  prayers  of 
the  pious  chaplain,  he  goes  forth  to  engage  in 
life's  battle  again.  Thomas  could  not  fully  en- 
joy the  sweets  of  liberty  unless  on  horseback. 
He  makes  his  way  to  the  capital  of  Kansas,  and 
engages  at  once  in  the  dangerous  business  of 
stealing  horses.  He  had  not  continued  this 
course  long  before  he  was  arrested,  tried,  con- 
victed and  returned  to  Lansing  for  five  years 
more.  Thomas  had  not  been  in  the  Kansas 
penitentiary  the  second  time  but  a  few  months, 
when  he  called  upon  the  chaplain,  and  with 
tears  rolling  down  his  face  confessed  he  was  a 
great  sinner,  promised  to  lead  a  different  life^ 


THE  PRISONERS.  169 

and  urged  the  chaplain  to  pray  for  him.  De- 
lighted at  the  prospect  of  snatching  such  a 
brand  from  the  eternal  burning,  the  man  of 
God  took  Thomas  into  a  private  room,  and  the 
two  knelt  down.  The  chaplain  offered  a  fer- 
vent prayer  that  the  loving  Father  would  take 
to  His  embrace  the  returning,  sinful  prodigal. 
At  the  conclusion  of  this  prayer  the  chaplain 
called  upon  the  "  sin  sick  soul  "  to  pray  for  him- 
self. This  was  an  unexpected  movement  by 
the  chaplain,  and  Thomas  was  hardly  prepared 
for  the  emergency.  However,  he  prayed.  He 
was  converted  on  the  spot.  At  least,  the  chap- 
lain thought  so.  Strange  as  it  may  appear  to 
my  readers,  instead  of  this  noted  convict  having 
to  remain  and  serve  out  his  five  years'  sentence, 
through  the  influence  of  this  minister  he  secured 
a  pardon.  At  the  expiration  of  eighteen 
months  the  shrewd  convict  was  a  free  man. 
That  chaplain  was  "  worked." 

The  fortunate  Thomas  next  visits  Atchison. 
A  farmer  came  to  the  city  one  day,  driving  a 
beautiful  horse.  The  temptation  was  too  great, 
and  the  man  who  had  been  an  inmate  of  a  peni- 
tentiary seven  different  times  followed  the  un- 
suspecting farmer  to  his  home,  and  that  night 
rode  away  the  coveted  prize.  The  Atchison 


I/O  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

County  Vigilance  Committee  traced  and  soon 
caught  the  guilty  horse-thief,  landing  him  in 
Atchison  County's  beautiful  jail.  Shortly  after, 
Thomas  had  an  interview  with  the  county  at- 
torney, and  it  was  agreed  by  and  between  them, 
if  the  horse-thief  would  plead  guilty,  he  should 
be  let  off  with  one  year  in  the  penitentiary. 
To  this  the  grave  offender  agreed,  and,  pre- 
senting himself  before  the  tribunal  of  justice, 
Hon.  W.  D.  Gilbert  presiding,  plead  guilty. 
The  county  attorney  being  absent,  the  court 
gave  Thomas,  instead  of  twelve  months,  a  year 
and  a  half  at  hard  labor.-  I  met  him  in  the 
penitentiary  a  few  days  ago,  and  learned  that 
he  is  putting  forth  an  effort  to  secure  a  pardon 
on  the  ground  that  had  he  not  been  promised 
only  a  one  year's  sentence,  he  would  have  stood 
trial  and  been  acquitted.  He  claims  that  he 
should  be  given  his  liberty  when  his  one  year 
is  up. 

Thomas  was  out  of  the  penitentiary  long 
enough  to  go  into  the  army  and  get  a  bullet 
through  his  ankle,  and  therefor  draws  a  pension 
of  twenty-four  dollars  per  month.  He  takes 
good  care  of  his  money,  and  has  enough  on 
hand  to  enable  him  to  get  a  good  start  in  life 
when  he  obtains  his  freedorrj.  He  is  a  well- 


THE  PRISONERS.  I/I 

behaved  prisoner.  He  is  true  to  his  pals  in 
crime,  never  having  been  known  to  turn  State's 
evidence.  He  has  a  mania  for  taking  things 
that  do  not  belong  to  him.  He  claims  that  he 
never  would  have  been  caught  the  last  time 
had  not  his  housekeeper  "  given  him  away. " 
The  two  had  a  domestic  quarrel,  and  in  her 
efforts  to  get  even,  she  told  the  authorities  of 
his  theft.  After  his  trial  and  conviction, 
womanlike, she  repented  in  sackcloth  and  ashes, 
but  Thomas  would  have  no  more  to  do  with 
her.  Later,  she  went  over  into  Missouri ,  where 
she  has  since  died.  One  of  the  first  things 
Thomas  will  do  on  regaining  his  liberty  will  be 
to  secure  another  housekeeper, and  probably  the 
the  next  thing  will  be  to  steal  some  farmer's 
horse. 

This  convict  is  now  serving  out  his  eighth 
term  in  the  penitentiary.  It  is  fearful  to  con- 
template these  human  wrecks.  A  wasted  life, 
golden  opportunities  unimproved,  a  dark  and 
dismal  future  will  constitute  the  death  knell  of 
such  fallen  beings.  Young  man,  remember 
the  life  of  this  convict,  and  shun  such  a  course. 

SKILLED   LABOR. 
William  Hurst. — Some  of  the  narratives  in 


172  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

this  book  read  like  the  story  of  Aladin's  Lamp, 
and  we  have  no  doubt  some  of  them  so  read- 
ing are  absolutely  true,  while  for  the  Lamp 
story  nothing  is  claimed.  For  many  ages  men, 
and  particularly  those  engaged  in  the  literary 
field  of  thought,  have  discanted  on  the  baseness 
of  the  passion  of  jealousy.  There  is  no  sense 
in  being  jealous.  You  are  either  loved  or  you 
are  not,  and  hence  the  absolute  foolishness  of 
indulging  the  passion. 

William  Hurst,  whose  history  we  now  re- 
late, is  a  man  of  rough  personal  appearance, 
Irish  descent,  and  his  age  is  now  about  fifty-five. 
Coming  to  Kansas  at  an  early  day,  he  settled  in 
Doniphan  County,  and  there  courted  and  subse- 
quently married  one  of  Doniphan  County's 
pretty  girls.  Time  went  along  as  usual,  and  in 
a  few  years  there  were  several  little  cherubs  that 
blessed  the  household  of  Hurst.  But,  as  some- 
times happens,  thehusband  began  to  drink,  love 
grew  colder,  the  necessities  of  the  family  hourly 
grew  greater,  poverty  in  all  its  hideousness 
came  to  curse  the  home  once  so  happy.  The 
poor,  distracted  wife  and  mother  did  all  she 
could,  by  taking  in  washing  and  ironing,  to  pre- 
vent the  starvation  of  her  little  ones.  The  hus- 
band through  his  bleared  eyes  imagined  he 


THE   PRISONERS.  1/3 

could  see  that  other  men  were  too  friendly  to 
his  wife.  He  charged  her  with  unfaithfulness 
to  the  marriage  vows.  She  denied  the  charge. 
Only  incensed  by  this  he  would  beat  and  mis- 
treat her  out  of  all  reason.  For  protection  she 
had  him  arrested,  intending  to  bind  him  over  to 
keep  the  peace,  but  on  the  advice  of  officers, 
who  are  so  full  of  it,  she  withdrew  the  charge 
and  he  was  set  at  liberty.  For  a  few  days  he 
was  quiet,  but  soon  the  red  liquor  poured  down 
his  throat,  and  like  a  mountain  devil  stirred  all 
the  dark  passions  of  his  lost  and  ruined  nature. 
He  attempted  to  debauch  his  own  daughter, 
and  was  only  prevented  by  the  physical  force  of 
the  ever-watchful  mother.  The  father  (great 
God!  is  such  a  human  being  entitled  to  the  en- 
dearing term?)  turned  upon  her,  and  again,  as 
had  often  happened,  abused,  kicked  and  mis- 
treated her  in  a  most  shameful  manner.  She 
had  him  arrested  a  second  time  with  the  inten- 
tion of  binding  him  over  to  keep  the  peace. 
He  pretended,  while  in  charge  of  the  officer, 
that  he  must  see  his  wife,  and  together  they 
started  toward  the  hovel  where  they  lived. 
They  met  the  wife  and  mother  at  the  outskirts 
of  the  little  village,  had  some  words,  and  before 
the  officer  could  prevent  it,  Hurst  sprang  upon 


174  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

the  woman  and  cut  her  throat  from  ear  to  ear, 
jumped  away,  and  made  good  his  escape  to  the 
woods,  the  officer,  meanwhile,  deeming  it  more 
important  to  aid  the  woman,  not  knowing,  for 
a  moment,  that  the  cutting  was  fatal.  That 
fact  was  very  soon  apparent.  Others  were 
called  who  took  charge  of  the  body,  and  the 
officer  struck  out  in  hot  pursuit  of  the  murderer. 
He  was  followed  to  the  woods  a  few  miles 
from  White  Cloud,  in  Doniphan  County,  there 
overtaken  and  conducted  to  the  county  seat, 
tried,  convicted  of  murder  in  the  first  degree, 
sentenced  to  be  hung,  sent  to  the  penitentiary 
to  await  the  final  execution,  which,  in  our 
State,  never  comes.  He  remained  in  there 
about  twenty  months  when  he  became  insane, 
and  was  sent  to  the  asylum;  was  there  about 
three  and  a  half  years,  when  he  was  pronounced 
cured  and  returned  to  the  penitentiary.  He 
is  now  insane  a  second  time.  You  have  all  in 
your  younger  days  read  the  story  of  the  maniac 
that  paced  hiscell,  repeating"  once  one  is  two," 
and  now  comes  the  queerest  part  of  this  nar- 
rative. Hurst  seems  anxious  to  talk  to  every 
one  that  calls,  and  especially  anxious  to  shake 
hands;  but  if  you  say  anything  to  him,  or  ask 
any  question,  his  only  answer  is  "  skilled 


THE   PRISONERS.  175 

labor,"  and  keeps  on  repeating  these  words  as 
he  walks  up  and  down  his  place  of  confine- 
ment. 

Who  knows  but  the  infinite  God  has  de- 
stroyed reason  to  prevent  the  power  of  dark- 
ness over  this  poor,  unfortunate  being.  Or 
who  knows  but  the  demands  of  justice  are  met 
in  the  terrible  conscience  blows  which  have 
staggered  and  shattered  that  which  originally 
was  in  the  image  of  God. 

LIFE    INSURANCE   AND   MURDER. 

McNutt  and  Winner.  —  These  are  two  of  the 
most  noted  criminals  in  the  penitentiary,  ren- 
dered so  because  of  the  dastardly  crime  com- 
mitted by  them,  and  the  high  social  relations 
of  the  latter.  They  came  from  Wichita,  and 
have  been  in  prison  almost  fifteen  years.  Mc- 
Nutt is  a  fine  artist  and  painter.  He  had  his 
paint  shop  in  Wichita,  and  was  doing  a  very 
successful  business.  Winner  was  his  associate, 
and  the  two  plotted  and  carried  into  execution 
the  following  horrible  crime:  McNutt  got  his 
life  insured  for  $5,000,  his  wife  being  his  ben- 
eficiary. It  was  a  dark,  stormy  night  when 
McNutt  and  Winner  enticed  into  this  paint  shop 
an  unsuspecting  mutual  friend.  Here  they 


176  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

murdered  him  in  cold  blood.  They  then  set 
fire  to  the  paint  shop  and  took  to  flight.  After 
the  fire  was  put  out,  the  charred  remains  of  the 
murdered  man  were  found,  and  supposed  to  be 
those  of  McNutt,  the  owner  of  the  building. 
The  wife,  cognizant  of  the  awful  deed  which 
her  husband  had  committed,  followed  the 
remains  of  the  murdered  man  to  the  grave, 
dressed  in  her  garb  of  mourning. 

Shortly  after  this  she  applied  for  the  in- 
surance money  on  her  husband's  life.  Some 
doubts  were  raised  as  to  the  identity  of  the 
body.  Detectives  were  employed  to  make  an 
investigation  of  the  case.  They  made  use  of 
a  deception,  and  thus  got  the  woman  to  con- 
fess. They  told  her  that  they  had  found  an 
accomplice  who  had  confessed  the  crime,  and 
was  in  jail.  They  promised  the  wife  that  if 
she  would  tell  the  truth  they  would  not  prose- 
cute her.  She  consented.  She  narrated  the 
sickening  events  as  they  had  been  plotted  ift 
her  presence  and  under  her  roof.  Officers 
were  now  despatched  to  find  the  murderers. 
McXutt  was  found  in  Missouri  plowing  corn. 
Winner  was  found  near  Wichita.  They  were 
brought  to  trial,  convicted,  and  sent  to  prison 
for  life.  Winner  was  unmarried  at  the  time  of 


THE   PRISONERS.  1 77 

his  conviction.  His  father  and  only  brother 
are  very  wealthy,  and  living  in  Kansas  City. 
I  have  been  told  they  offer  $20,000  for 
Winner's  pardon.  McNutt  is  a  very  useful 
man  in  the  prison.  He  has  charge  of  the 
painting  department.  He  has  done  some  fine 
work  on  the  walls  of  the  prison  chapel,  cover- 
ing them  with  paintings  of  the  Grecian  god- 
desses. Both  ofthese  prisoners  hope  to  receive 
pardons.  Whether  they  will  regain  their 
liberty  is  a  question  which  the  future  alone  can 
answer. 

THE  HOG-THIEF. 

In  the  coal  mines,  as  before  stated,  the  con- 
victs are  permitted  to  converse  with  each  other. 
I  improved  this  opportunity  of  acquiring  the 
histories  of  the  five  hundred  criminals  with 
whom  I  daily  worked,  eight  hundred  feet  be- 
low the  surface.  I  would  talk  with  a  fellow 
prisoner,  and  get  the  details  of  his  crime  as  we 
sat  together  in  the  darkness.  Understanding 
"  short-hand, "I  would  go  to  my  cell  in  the  even- 
ing and  jot  down  what  I  had  learned  during 
the  day.  I  had  no  fears  of  any  one  reading  my 
notes,  as  I  was  the  only  short-hand  writer  about 
the  institution.  Day  after  day  I  kept  this  up 

The  Twin  Hell  12 


1 78  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

until  I  had  material  sufficient  of  this  nature  to  fill 
a  book  of  more  than  two  thousand  pages.  My 
readers  should  also  know,  that  a  convict  will  tell 
a  fellow-prisoner  the  details  of  his  crime,  when 
he  would  not  think  of  saying  a  word  about  it 
to  others.  As  a  rule  they  deny  their  crimes  to 
those  who  are  not,  like  themselves,  criminals, 
pleading  innocence.  It  is  not  difficult  for  a 
prisoner  to  get  the  confidence  of  a  fellow- 
prisoner.  In  fact,  criminals  love  to  unburden 
their  minds  to  those  who  possess  their  confi- 
dence. The  truth  is,  convicts  have  related 
their  crimes  so  often  to  me  that  it  became  tire- 
some. They  say  it  relieves  them  to  communi- 
cate their  troubles.  Pinkerton,  of  Chicago,  the 
prince  of  detectives,  stated  at  one  time  that  a 
criminal  could  not  keep  his  secret.  It  is  true. 
I  know  it  to  be  a  fact.  It  has  been  demon- 
strated a  hundred  times  in  my  association  with 
these  convicts  in  the  Kansas  penitentiary. 
Securing  their  confidence,  these  men  have  not 
only  told  me  of  the  crimes  for  which  they  have 
been  sent  to  prison,  but  also  of  crimes  that  they 
have  committed,  and,  in  the  commission  of 
which,  they  had  not  been  detected,  which,  if  I 
should  make  them  known, would  cause  a  number 
of  them  to  remain  in  the  penitentiary  the  rest  of 


THE  PRISONERS.  1/9 

their  lives.  I  am  not  in  the  detective  business, 
and  will  therefore  keep  what  was  confided  to 
me.  I  have  met  but  few  criminals  in  the  mines 
that  would  not  admit  their  guilt.  I  have 
thought  in  many  cases,  convicts  received  sen- 
tences too  severe,  and  not  at  all  commensurate 
with  the  crime  committed.  I  have  met  a  few 
men,  however,  who  would  stubbornly  deny 
their  guilt  and  stoutly  affirm  their  innocence. 
I  have  worked  upon  these  men  day  after  day, 
and  never  got  anything  out  of  them  but  that 
they  were  innocent.  At  times,  in  tears,  they 
would  talk  of  their  sufferings,  and  wonder  if 
there  was  a  just  God  silently  permitting  the 
innocent  to  suffer  for  the  guilty.  I  am  satis- 
fied these  men  are  innocent,  and  they  have  my 
sympathy.  They  are  exceptions.  Others, 
while  admitting  their  guilt  oh  general  princi- 
ples, and  assenting  to  the  justice  of  imprison- 
ment, yet  maintain  that  they  were  innocent 
of  the  particular  crime  for  which  they  stand 
convicted.  I  trust  the  reader  will  not  get  his 
sympathies  wrought  too  high,  as  compara- 
tively few  angels  find  their  way  into  modern 
prisons.  I  will  give  you  a  few  illustrations. 
These  are  just  samples  of  scores  of  histories  in 
my  possession. 


180  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

A  hog-thief  worked  in  the  mines  with  me 
for  a  few  days.  His  dose  was  five  years  at 
hard  labor.  He  had  stolen  an  old  sandy  female 
swine  with  six  pigs.  I  asked  him  if  he  was 
really  guilty  of  carrying  on  the  pork  business. 
"  Yes,"  said  he,  with  a  low  chuckle,  "  I  have 
stolen  pigs  all  my  life,  and  my  daddy  and 
mammy  before  me  were  in  the  same  business. 
I  got  caught.  They  never  did."  He  then 
related  the  details  of  many  thefts.  He  made 
a  considerable  amount  of  money  in  his  wicked 
traffic,  which  he  had  squandered,  and  was  now 
penniless.  Money  secured  in  a  criminal  manner 
never  does  the  possessor  any  good.  I  asked 
him  if  he  had  enough  of  the  hog  business,  and 
if  it  was  his  intention  to  quit  it,  and  when  he 
got  out  of  the  pen  to  earn  an  honest  living. 
"  No,"  he  replied,  "  as  long  as  there  is  a  hog 
to  steal  and  I  am  a  free  man,  I  propose  to  steal 
him. "  Imprisonment  failed  to  reform  this 
convict.  Although  a  hog-thief  he  was  an  ex- 
cellent singer  and  a  prominent  member  of  the 
prison  choir. 

There  are  many  murderers  in  the  mines. 
In  fact,  nearly  all  the  life  men  are  there.  Some 
of  them  speak  of  their  crimes  with  a  bravado 
simply  astonishing,  showing  their  utter  deprav- 


THE   PRISONERS.  l8l 

ity.  Others,  admitting  their  guilt,  say  but  little 
of  details.  The  following  will  give  the  reader 
some  idea  of  the  stories  that  greeted  my  ears 
almost  daily,  and  led  me  to  conclude  that  the 
coal  mines  of  the  penitentiary  are  not  inhabited 
exclusively  by  Sunday-school  scholars.  This 
cruel  and  heartless  wretch  had  murdered  an 
old  man  and  his  wife.  The  old  people  lived  on 
a  farm  adjoining  the  one  where  this  criminal, 
who  was  then  a  hired  man,  worked,  It  was 
the  talk  of  the  neighborhood  that  they  had 
money.  This  human  fiend  undertook  to  secure 
their  "  loose  change, "  as  he  called  it.  He  pro- 
cured a  shotgun  and  an  axe,  and,  in  the  dead 
hour  of  night,  went  to  the  house  of  the  old  peo- 
ple. He  forced  open  the  kitchen  door  and 
went  in.  He  had  also  brought  with  him  alan- 
tern.  He  quietly  stole  to  the  bedside  of  the 
innocent  and  aged  sleepers.  He  had  no 
use  for  his  lantern  as  the  moonlight  shone 
through  the  window  opposite  and  fell  upon 
the  faces  of  the  unconscious  victims.  Set- 
ting his  gun  down  by  the  side  of 
the  bed,  so  that  he  could  have  it  handy 
for  use,  if  necessary,  he  took  the  axe  and 
struck  each  of  his  victims  a  blow  upon  the 
head.  He  said7with  a  demoniac  chuckle,  that 


f82  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

K  was  more  difficult  to  kill  a  woman  than  a 
nun,  as  it  required  two  blows  from  the  axe  to 
kill  the  woman,  while  one  was  sufficient  for 
the  man.  He  then  ransacked  the  house,  and, 
between  some  blankets  underneath  the  straw- 
bed  upon  which  the  old  folks  were  sleeping, 
he  found  a  small  bag,  which  contained  some 
gold,  silver  and  paper  money,  amounting  to 
over  one  thousand  dollars.  In  a  cold-blooded 
manner  he  further  stated  (and  as  I  pen  his 
words  my  blood  nearly  freezes  in  my  veins), 
in  order  to  search  the  bed  upon  which  his 
victims  were  lying,  it  became  necessary  for 
him  to  remove  the  bodies;  so  he  lifted  them 
up  one  at  a  time,  and  placed  them  upon  the 
floor,  face  downward,  for  the  reason,  as  he  said, 
that  their  eyes  bulged  out  and  seemed  to  stare 
at  him. 

After  securing  the  money  he  fled  and  re- 
turned to  the  farm  where  he  worked.  He 
slept  in  the  barn,  as  is  very  often  the  case  with 
farm  laborers  during  the  summer  season. 
Entering  the  barn  he  procured  an  old  bucket, 
places  his  money  in  it,  covers  the  top  with  a 
piece  of  board,  and  buries  it  in  the  earth  east 
of  the  barn.  He  also  buried  the  axe  near  the 
bucket.  He  said  there  were  clots  of  blood  and 


THE   PRISONERS.  1 8} 

hair  on  the  axe,  and  he  thought  best  to  put  it 
out  of  sight.  He  then  returned  to  the  barn, 
and,  strange  to  say,  soon  fell  asleep  and  slept 
sweetly  until  morning.  He  went  to  work  the 
next  day  as  usual,  and  his  mind  was  taken  up 
more  by  thinking  of  what  a  good  time  he  would 
have  after  a  little,  spending  that  money,  than 
in  worrying  over  the  terrible  crime  he  had 
committed.  He  reasoned  that  the  money 
would  do  the  old  people  no  good,  but  that  he 
could  use  it  to  advantage. 

The  discovery  of  the  murder  was  made  the 
next  day  about  noon.  The  alarm  was  given. 
The  whole  country  was  aroused  and  excited 
over  the  commission  of  such  a  horrible  crime  — 
two  innocent,  helpless  and  highly-respected  old 
people  murdered  for  their  money.  A  couple  of 
tramps  had  passed  through  the  neighborhood 
the  day  before,  and,  of  course,  everybody 
thought  it  must  have  been  the  tramps  that 
committed  the  murder.  The  object  now  was 
to  find  them.  They  were  overtaken  the  next 
day  and  brought  back  to  the  scene  of  the  mur- 
der. They  both  stoutly  denied  any  knowl- 
edge of  the  crime.  They  were  separated,  and 
each  was  told  that  the  other  had  confessed. 
This  was  done  that  a  confession  might  be  forced 


1 84  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

from  them.  They  continued  in  their  affirma- 
tion of  innocence.  They  were  then  taken  to 
the  woods  near  by  and  each  hung  up  until  life 
was  almost  extinct,  but  they  still  denied  the 
commission  of  the  crime.  They  were  at  length 
taken  to  the  county  seat,  not  far  distant,  and, 
on  a  preliminary  examination,  were  bound  over 
to  appear  at  the  next  term  of  the  District  Court, 
and  put  in  the  county  jail.  The  majority  of 
the  people  believed  that  the  perpetrators  of 
this  crime  had  been  arrested  and  were  now  in 
durance  vile;  the  excitement  soon  passed  away, 
and  very  little  was  said  about  it. 

"  It  was  at  this  time,"  said  my  informant, 
"  that  I  made  the  mistake  of  my  life.  I  had 
worked  hard  on  the  farm  for  several  months, 
and  thought  I  would  take  a  lay  off.  I  felt  it 
was  due  me.  I  now  made  up  my  mind  to  have 
a  time.  I  went  to  town  and  soon  fell  in  with  a 
harlot.  I  got  to  drinking.  I  am  very  fond  of 
strong  drink  ;  it  has  been  my  ruin.  I  became 
intoxicated,  and  during  this  time  I  must  have 
betrayed  my  secret  to  this  wicked  woman.  A 
large  reward  had  been  offered  for  the  murderer 
of  these  old  people.  This  woman  who  kept 
me  company  having  thus  obtained  my  secret, 
went  to  the  city  marshal  and  made  an  arrange- 


THE   PRISONERS.  185 

merit  that  for  half  of  the  reward  offered  she 
would  show  him  the  man  who  had  committed 
the  crime.  This  was  agreed  to.  While  I  was 
drinking  and  having  a  good  time  with  my  'fast 
woman'  three  men  were  on  the  road  to  the 
farm  where  I  had  been  working.  They  found 
and  dug  up  the  old  bucket  containing  what 
money  I  had  left  in  it,  and  the  axe.  All  this  I 
learned  at  the  trial.  I  was  arrested  and  bound 
over  to  the  District  Court  on  a  charge  of  murder 
in  the  first  degree.  The  officers  had  to  keep 
me  secreted  for  some  time,  as  there  was  strong 
talk  of  lynching.  In  due  time  I  had  my  trial 
and  got  a  life  sentence." 

I  asked  him   if  he  had  any  hope  of  pardon. 

"  Oh  yes,"  said  he,  "  in  the  course  of  eight 
or  ten  years  I  will  be  able  to  get  out  once 
more." 

"  What  became  of  the  tramps  that  came  so 
near  being  compelled  to  suffer  the  penalty  of 
your  crime?" 

"  They  were  released  as  soon  as  I  was  ar- 
rested, a  snug  little  sum  of  money  was  raised 
for  them,  a  new  suit  of  clothes  purchased,  and 
they  went  on  their  way  rejoicing,  thinking 
themselves  creatures  of  luck." 

As  we  sat  together  in  a  secluded  place  in  the 


1 86  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

mines,  with  the  faint  light  of  my  miner's  lamp 
falling  on  his  hideous  face,  the  cool,  deliberate 
manner  in  which  he  related  his  atrocious  doings, 
the  fiendish  spirit  he  displayed,  led  me  to 
regard  him  as  one  among  the  most  debased  and 
hardened  criminals  I  had  met  in  the  mines  — 
a  human  being  utterly  devoid  of  moral  nature 
—  a  very  devil  in  the  form  of  man! 

A    NOTED    COUNTERFEITER. 

One  of  my  companions  in  the  mines,  and 
with  whom  I  worked  a  couple  of  weeks,  lying 
almost  side  by  side  with  him  as  we  dug  coal  in 
the  same  room,  was  a  noted  counterfeiter. 
He  had  plied  his  trade  for  many  years  suc- 
cessfully. Whisky  finally  sent  him  to  the 
penitentiary.  If  professional  criminals  would 
only  let  strong  drink  alone  not  half  so  many 
of  them  would  get  caught.  They  get  drunk, 
and  in  this  condition  expose  themselves.  We 
don't  mean  to  use  this  as  an  argument  against 
the  prohibitory  law  !  It  is,  perhaps,  proper 
for  them  to  drink.  This  counterfeiter  makes 
his  dies  out  of  plaster  paris.  They  are  very 
simple  arid  easy  of  construction.  He  explained 
to  me  the  manner  in  which  they  were  made. 
I  would  give  his  method  of  making  these  dies 


THE  PRISONERS.  1  8/ 

were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  some  smart  boy 
getting  hold  of  this  book  and  learning  the 
method  would  undertake  the  business,  and 
as  a  result  his  good  old  mother  would  be 
going  to  the  penitentiary  to  visit  him.  When 
this  counterfeiter  would  run  short  of  funds  he 
would  purchase  the  necessary  material,  go 
into  the  woods  on  a  dark  night,  and  in  a 
very  short  time  would  have  plenty  of  bogus 
money.  He  taught  the  trade  to  his  brother  and 
to  some  bosom  friends,  and  it  was  not  long  until 
they  had  a  regular  organized  gang.  Getting 
drunk  one  day  one  of  them  displayed  too  many 
shining  new  pieces  of  money.  He  was  "  spot- 
ted." A  detective  was  put  on  his  track.  He  was 
traced  to  the  headquarters  of  the  gang,  and  in 
a  few  hours  thereafter  the  entire  posse  were 
locked  up  in  jail  on  a  charge  of  counterfeiting 
and  passing"  bogus  money."  They  now  formed 
plans  for  their  escape  from  jail.  They  adopted 
the  plan  of  seizing  the  jailor,  as  he  brought  in 
supper,  thrusting  him  into  a  cell,  locking  him  in, 
and  then  making  good  their  escape.  They 
made  the  attempt.  The  jailor  was  locked  in 
the  cell  according  to  the  programme,  but  so 
much  noise  was  made  in  the  struggle  that  the 
sheriff  put  in  an  appearance  with  a  loaded  re- 


1 88  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

volver.  The  prisoners  made  a  dash  for  liberty. 
A  brother  of  my  informant  was  killed;  another 
of  the  gang  was  wounded  and  dragged  back 
into  his  cell  in  the  jail;  the  others  got  away.  It 
was  in  the  winter  time.  The  succeeding  night 
was  extremely  cold.  Wandering  about  all 
night  in  the  snow,  their  feet  were  frozen,  and 
they  were  easily  recaptured  the  next  day.  They 
had  their  trial,  and  all  were  sent  to  the  peniten- 
tiary. They  got  eight  years  apiece,  three  for 
counterfeiting  and  five  for  breaking  jail.  In 
this  manner  was  broken  up  one  of  the  worst 
counterfeit  gangs  of  the  West.  Whisky  has 
trapped  many  a  criminal.  There  are  but  very 
few  that  do  not  "  indulge."  In  fact,  I  cannot 
now  recall  a  single  professional  criminal  but 
would  take  a  drop  if  he  could  get  it.  They 
must  have  whisky  to  nerve  them  for  their  ini- 
quitous business.  When  the  crime  is  com- 
mitted they  drink  again  t&  soothe  their 
"  wounded  consciences." 

YELLOW   BACK    LITERATURE. 

A  boy  was  brought  into  the  hospital  one 
day  while  I  was  there,  whose  history  is  worth 
relating,  as  it  shows  the  fatal  effects  of  bad  lit- 
erature upon  the  human  mind,  and  to  what  sad 


THE   PRISONERS.  1 89 

results  it  may  lead.  This  youth  had  become 
suddenly  ill  in  the  mines,  and  had  to  be  assisted 
from  his  place  of  work  to  the  ward  for  the  sick. 
He  was  very  ill  for  several  days,  but  began  to 
grow  convalescent.  An  opportunity  present- 
ing itself,  I  got  into  conversation  with  him,  and 
he  told  me  the  history  of  his  crime.  He  was 
an  orphan.  At  the  death  of  both  his  parents 
in  the  East  he  had  come  to  Kansas  to  make  his 
home  with  an  uncle.  This  relative  was  very 
kind,  and  after  a  time  adopted  the  boy.  He 
had  a  pleasant  home,  and  his  prospects  for  the 
future  were  bright.  How  often  is  it  the  case 
that  the  sky  of  the  future  becomes  overcast. 
This  young  criminal  was  a  constant  reader  of 
the  Life  of  Jesse  James,  andkindred  literature, 
until  he  made  up  his  mind  to  go  on  the  "  war 
path"  and  become  Jesse  James  No.  2.  With 
this  in  view,  he  provided  himself  with  two 
large  revolvers.  One  night,  after  all  the  house- 
hold had  .retired,  he  crept  stealthily  into  the 
bed-room  of  one  of  the  hired  men  and  stole 
seventy  dollars.  He  goes  to  the  barn  and 
takes  one  of  his  uncle's  horses  and  starts  for 
the  Indian  Territory.  The  uncle  was  awakened 
an  hour  later  on  account  of  some  unusual  sound 
at  the  barn,  and  going  thither  discovered  that 


190  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

one  of  his  best  horses  was  gone,  and  also  that 
his  nephew  was  away.  He  got  together  sev- 
eral of  his  neighbors  and  started  in  pursuit, 
and  the  next  day,  about  noon,  the  youthful 
thief  was  overtaken  and  surrounded.  The 
uncle  rode  up  to  him  and  began  to  question 
him  as  to  his  strange  conduct,  when  the  boy 
drew  one  of  his  revolvers,  and,  pointing  at  his 
uncle,  shot  him  dead.  He  was  going  to  play 
Jesse  James  to  the  last.  When  he  saw  his 
uncle  fall  dead  from  his  horse,  now  realizing 
what  he  had  done,  the  bravado  spirit  forsook 
him,  and  he  began  to  quake  with  fear.  The 
neighbors  closed  in  upon  him  and  soon  took 
his  firearms  from  him.  In  due  time  he  had 
his  trial  and  was  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for 
life. 

Bad  books  are  our  worst  companions.  I 
have  narrated  the  history  of  this  young  mur- 
derer, and  now  urge  my  boy  readers  to  let 
yellow  back  literature  alone.  It  wrecked  the 
future  of  this  youth,  and  what  it  did  for  one 
it  may  do  for  another. 

A   YOUTHFUL   MURDERER. 

Willie  Sells. —  In  the  prison,  this  convict  is 
called  the  "  baby  convict-"  When  he  came  to 


THE  PRISONERS.  19 1 

the  penitentiary  in  1886,  he  was  but  sixteen 
years  of  age,  and  in  appearance  much  younger. 
One  of  the  most  sickening  murders  committed 
in  Kansas  is  charged  to  the  account  of  this  boy. 
His  home  is  in  Neosho  County.  His  father, 
a  prosperous  farmer,  lived  happily  with  his 
wife  and  three  children.  Willie  was  the  oldest 
of  the  children.  Early  one  morning  he  rushed 
from  his  home  and  made  his  way  to  the  nearest 
neighbor,  about  half  a  mile  distant,  and  with 
his  face  and  hands  covered  with  blood  conveyed 
the  startling  intelligence  that  the  entire  family 
had  been  murdered,  and  he  only  had  escaped. 
Soon  an  excited  crowd  of  neighbors  gathered 
at  the  home  of  the  murdered  victims,  and  the 
sight  that  was  presented  has  but  few  parallels 
in  the  fatal  and  fearful  results  of  crime.  The 
victims  had  been  murdered  while  asleep.  In 
one  room  lay  the  father  and  mother  of  the 
youthful  murderer,  on  their  bed  of  death.  Their 
heads  had  been  split  open  with  an  axe  that  lay 
near  by,  and  the  blood  of  one  mingled  with  that 
of  the  other.  In  an  adjoining  bed-room,  cov- 
ered with  their  own  life's  blood,  were  found 
the  little  brother  and  sister.  They  had  been 
foully  murdered  with  the  same  instrument  that 
had  caused  the  death  of  the  parents.  Who 


192  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

was  the  monster  that  had  committed  this  terri- 
ble and  atrocious  act?  A  search  of  the  prem- 
ises disclosed  the  fact  that  robbery  was  not  the 
motive.  No  property  was  missing.  The  sur- 
vivor was  questioned  again  and  again.  He 
said  that  a  burly-looking  tramp  had  effected  an 
entrance  into  the  house  through  a  window  dur- 
ing the  night;  that  he  being  awake  at  the  mo- 
ment, and  becoming  alarmed,  hid  himself,  and, 
unperceived,  beheld  his  father  and  mother,  his 
brother  and  sister,  thus  foully  murdered.  A 
thorough  and  extensive  search  was  made,  but 
no  clue  could  be  obtained  that  would  warrant 
the  arrest  of  any  one. 

Finally,  the  surviving  child  was  taken  into 
custody.  It  was  claimed  that  his  statements 
of  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  crime 
varied,  and  in  several  instances  were  contra- 
dictory. The  evidence  introduced  at  his  trial 
was  purely  circumstantial.  After  much  delib- 
eration and  hesitancy,  the  jury  decided  on  a 
verdict  of  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  degree, 
and  this  child  criminal  was  sentenced  to  im- 
prisonment for  life. 

He  conducts  himself  well  in  the  prison.  On 
account  of  his  extreme  youth  he  is  given  a  great 
deal  of  liberty.  It  is  with  great  reluctance 


THE   PRISONERS.  193 

that  he  talks  about  his  crime,  and  longs  for 
freedom. 

Is  this  boy  guilty?  This  question  has  never 
been  satisfactorily  answered  in  the  affirmative. 
I  am  informed  there  was  a  grave  doubt  in  the 
mind  of  the  judge  who  tried  the  case  and  im- 
posed the  sentence  as  to  the  guilt  of  this  alleged 
youthful  offender.  A  chill  of  horror  creeps 
over  us  as  we  think  of  the  members  of  this 
family  weltering  in  each  other's  blood.  Should 
he  be  innocent,  it  would  be  awful  for  this  boy 
to  remain  in  the  Kansas  Hell  for  a  lifetime. 

A   MOST  REMARKABLE   CASE. 

William  Baldwin  furnishes  the  history  of 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  cases  in  the  crim- 
inal annals  of  Kansas.  He  was  charged  with 
the  atrocious  crime  of  murdering  his  own  sister. 
William  and  his  sister  were  the  only  children  of 
a  widowed  but  wealthy  mother.  It  is  claimed 
that  the  son  had  received  his  portion  of  the  es- 
tate prior  to  this  sad  occurrence,  and  that  by 
taking  the  life  of  his  sister  he  would  become 
the  sole  heir  of  the  Baldwin  estate,  which  was 
supposed  to  be  very  large.  Mary,  the  beautiful 
and  accomplished  sister  was  discovered  dead 
one  morning  lying  upon  her  bed  in  her  chamber 

The  Twin  Hells  13. 


194  THE   TWIN    HELLS. 

with  a  chloroform  bottle  at  her  side.  A  panel 
of  the  outside  door  of  the  house  was  found  re- 
moved. Immediately  upon  the  discovery  of  the 
murder  it  was  supposed  that  the  house  had 
been  burglarized,  and  that  the  thief  had  com- 
mitted the  murder.  Upon  an  examination  of 
the  premises  by  the  proper  officials  it  was 
found  that  nothing  had  been  taken  from  the 
house.  In  looking  for  a  motive  that  would 
prompt  a  person  to  commit  such  a  fiendish  act, 
and  it  being  known  that  William  Baldwin,  the' 
brother,  would  be  the  sole  heir  in  case  of  the 
death  of  his  sister,  he  was  at  once  suspected  of 
having  committed  the  crime.  His  arrest  was 
prompt  and  immediate.  He  was  bound  over 
on  preliminary  examination,  and  in  due  course 
of  time  had  his  trial  and  was  convicted.  He 
was  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary  for  one  year, 
at  the  expiration  of  which  he  was  to  be  hung 
until  dead.  His  case  was  taken  on  appeal  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  Baldwin,  in 
the  meantime,  was  removed  to  the  peniten- 
tiary. Here  he  was  placed  in  the  tailor  shop, 
where  he  has  remained  since.  He  is  a  very 
obedient  prisoner,  and  is  highly  esteemed  by 
the  prison  officials.  The  judgment  in  his  case 
upon  hearing  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 


THE  PRISONERS.  195 

State  was  affirmed.  From  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Kansas  his  case  was  taken  by  appeal  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States;  in  this 
highest  tribunal,  the  judgments  of  the  lower 
courts  were  affirmed,  and  the  fate  of  William 
Baldwin  is  forever  sealed  so  far  as  the  judiciary 
of  the  country  is  concerned.  If  he  is  permitted 
again  to  inhale  the  air  of  freedom,  it  must  be 
through  the  clemency  of  the  pardoning  board 
and  of  the  governor  of  Kansas.  During  one 
hundred  and  ten  years  of  American  jurisprud- 
ence, there  had  been  only  two  similar  cases 
taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  But  a  few  days  before  my  release  I 
was  talking  with  Billy  Baldwin  in  the  peniten- 
tiary, and  he  seemed  to  be  very  hopeful  that 
after  a  time  he  would  secure  his  pardon. 

His  wife  is  one  of  the  most  highly  respected 
ladies  of  Atchison  ;  is  true,  faithful  and  devoted 
to  her  husband.  She  has  enlisted  the  sympa- 
thies of  the  entire  community  in  her  behalf,  be- 
causf  of  her  youth  and  great  bereavement. 
His  aged  mcriher,  who  has  been  called  upon  to 
wade  through  deep  waters  of  affliction  because 
of  the  great  calamity  that  has  befallen  her  son 
and  daughter,  will  also  exert  great  influence  in 
getting  signers  to  a  petition  for  his  pardon. 


196  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

The  question  has  often  been  asked  me,  be- 
cause  of  my  intimate  relation  with  Baldwin  in 
the  penitentiary,  whether  I  believed  that  he  is 
guilty.  I  can  answer  as  to  my  own  belief.  I 
have  watched  him  carefully  as  I  have  the  other 
fifty-five  lifetime  convicts,  and  I  am  free  to  say 
that  I  do  not  believe  that  William  Baldwin  ever 
committed  the  crime  of  killing  his  sister  for  the 
malicious  desire  of  obtaining  filthy  lucre,  or  the 
estate  of  his  sister.  He  does  not  conduct  him- 
self as  scores  of  other  criminals  who  have  con- 
fessed their  guilt.  In  conversation  with  him, 
while  I  was  "  in  stripes,"  he  has  time  and 
again  told  me,  with  tears  rolling  down  his 
cheeks,  that  he  was  innocent  of  the  terrible 
crime  of  which  he  stands  accused,  and  that 
there  was  i;o  brother  had  greater  love  for  his 
sister  than  he,  and  that  he  had  such  faith  in  an 
overruling  Providence  that  eventually  he  would 
be  exonerated  from  the  crime;  and  that  the 
real  perpetrator  would  be  made  known.  If 
he  is  innocent  and  it  should  ever  be  clearly 
proven,  his  will  be  one  of  the  saddest  and 
most  mysterious  events  ever  recorded.  There 
is  beyond  doubt  an  unsolved  mystery  hanging 
over  this  remarkable  case. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FORTY-EIGHT  HOURS  IN  HELL. 

ONE  of  the  most  interesting  cases  of  resus- 
citation that  ever  came  to  my  knowledge  was 
that  of  George  Lennox,  a  notorious  horse- 
thief  of  Jefferson  County.  He  was  serving  his 
second  term.  Sedgwick  County  sent  him  to 
the  prison  the  first  time  for  a  similar  offense  — 
stealing  horses. 

During  the  winter  of  1887  and  1888,  he 
worked  in  the  coal  mines.  The  place  where 
he  was  laboring  seemed  dangerous  to  him.  He 
reported  the  fact  to  the  officer  in  charge,  who 
made  an  examination,  and  deciding  that  the 
room  was  safe,  ordered  Lennox  back  to  his 
work.  The  convict,  obeying,  had  not  continued 
his  work  more  than  an  hour,  when  the  roof  fell 
in  and  completely  buried  him.  He  remained 
in  this  condition  fully  two  hours.  Missed  at 
dinner-time,  a  search  was  instituted  for  the 
absent  convict,  and  he  was  found  under  this 
heap  of  rubbish.  Life  seemed  extinct.  He  was 
taken  to  the  top,  and  on  examination  by  the 
prison  physician  was  pronounced  dead.  His 


198  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

remains  were  carried  to  the  hospital,  where  he 
was  washed  and  dressed  preparatory  for  inter- 
ment. His  coffin  was  made  and  brought  into 
the  hospital.  The  chaplain  had  arrived  to  per- 
form the  last  sad  rites  prior  to  burial.  A  cou- 
ple of  prisoners  were  ordered  by  the  hospital 
steward  to  lift  the  corpse  from  the  boards  and 
carry  it  across  the  room  and  place  it  in  the 
coffin.  They  obeyed,  one  at  the  head  and  the 
other  at  the  feet,  and  were  about  half  way 
across  the  room  when  the  one  who  was  at  the 
head  accidentally  stumbled  over  a  cuspidor, 
lost  his  balance,  and  dropped  the  corpse. 
The  head  of  the  dead  man  struck  the  floor, 
and  to  the  utter  surprise  and  astonishment  of 
all  present,  a  deep  groan  was  heard.  Soon 
the  eyes  opened,  and  other  appearances  of  life 
were  manifested.  The  physician  was  immedi- 
ately sent  for,  and  by  the  time  he  arrived, 
some  thirty  minutes,  the  dead  man  had 
called  for  a  cup  of  water,  and  was  in  the  act 
of  drinking  when  the  physician  arrived.  The 
coffin  was  at  once  removed,  and  later  on  was 
used  to  bury  another  convict  in.  His  burial 
robes  were  also  taken  from  him,  and  the 
prison  garb  substituted.  On  an  examination 
he  was  found  to  have  one  of  his  legs  broken  in 


FORTY-EIGHT  HOURS  IN  HELL.        199 

two  places,  and  was  otherwise  bruised.  He 
remained  in  the  hospital  some  six  months,  and 
again  went  to  work.  I  learned  of  his  peculiar 
experience  while  apparently  dead,  soon  after, 
from  a  fellow  miner.  Prompted  by  curiousity,  I 
longed  for  an  acquaintance  with  Lennox  to  get 
his  experience  from  his  own  lips.  This  oppor- 
tunity was  not  offered  for  several  months.  At 
last  it  came.  After  being  removed  from  the 
mines  I  was  detailed  to  one  of  the  prison 
offices  to  make  out  some  annual  reports.  The 
subject  of  this  man's  return  to  life  was  being 
discussed  one  day,  when  he  happened  to  pass 
by  the  office  door  and  was  pointed  out  to  me. 
It  was  not  long  until  I  had  a  note  in  his  hand, 
and  asked  him  to  come  where  I  was  at  work. 
He  did  so,  and  here  I  got  well  acquainted 
with  him,  and  from  his  own  lips  received  his 
wonderful  story.  He  is  a  young  man,  prob- 
ably not  over  thirty  years  of  age.  He  is  not 
a  hardened  criminal;  is  possessed  of  a  very 
good  education,  and  naturally  very  bright. 

The  most  wonderful  part  of  his  history  was 
that  during  the  time  he  was  dead.  Being  a 
short-hand  reporter  I  took  his  story  from  his 
dictation.  Said  he:  "  I  had  a  presentiment  all 
the  morning  that  something  terrible  was  going 


200  THE   TWIN    HELLS. 

to  happen.  I  was  so  uneasy  on  account  of  my 
feelings  that  I  went  to  my  mining  boss,  Mr. 
Grason,  and  told  him  how  I  felt,  and  asked  him 
if  he  would  not  come  and  examine  my  'coal 
room, 'the  place  where  I  was  digging  coal.  He 
came, 'and  seemed  to  make  a  thorough  examina- 
tion, and  ordered  me  back  to  work,  saying,  there 
was  no  danger,  and  that  he  thought  I  was  go- 
ing '  cranky.'  I  returned  to  my  work,  and  had 
been  digging  away  for  something  like  an  hour, 
when,  all  of  a  sudden,  it  grew  very  dark.  Then 
it  seemed  as  if  a  great  iron  door  swung  open, 
and  I  passed  through  it.  The  thought  then 
came  to  my  mind  that  I  was  dead  and  in  an- 
other world.  I  could  see  no  one,  nor  hear 
sound  of  any  kind.  From  some  cause  un- 
known to  myself,  I  started  to  move  away  from 
the  doorway,  and  had  traveled  some  distance 
when  I  came  to  the  banks  of  a  broad  river.  It 
was  not  dark,  neither  was  it  light.  There  was 
about  as  much  light  as  on  a  bright  star-lit  night. 
I  had  not  remained  on  the  bank  of  this  river 
very  long  until  I  could  hear  the  sound  of  oars 
in  the  water,  and  soon  a  person  in  a  boat  rowed 
up  to  where  I  was  standing.  I  was  speechless. 
He  looked  at  me  for  a  moment,  and  then  said 
that  he  had  come  for  me,  and  told  me  to  get 


FORTY-EIGHT   HOURS   IN   HELL.          2OI 

into  the  boat  and  row  across  to  the  other  side. 
I  obeyed.  Not  a  word  was  spoken.  I  longed 
to  ask  him  who  he  was,  \nd  where  I  was.  My 
tongue  seemed  to  cling  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth. 
I  could  not  say  a  word.  Finally,  we  reached 
the  opposite  shore.  I  got  out  of  the  boat,  and 
the  boatman  vanished  out  of  sight.  Thus  left 
alone,  I  knew  not  what  to  do.  Looking  out 
before  me,  I  saw  two  roads  which  led  through 
a  dark  valley.  One  of  these  was  a  broad  road, 
and  seemed  to  be  well  traveled.  The  other 
was  a  narrow  path  that  led  off  in  another  direc- 
tion. I  instinctively  followed  the  well  beaten 
road.  I  had  not  gone  far  when  it  seemed  to 
grow  darker.  Ever  and  anon,  however,  a 
light  would  flash  up  from  the  distance,  and  in 
this  manner  I  was  lighted  on  my  journey. 
Presently  I  was  met  by  a  being  that  it  is  utterly 
impossible  for  me  to  describe.  I  can  only  give 
you  a  faint  idea  of  his  dreadful  appearance.  He 
resembled  a  man  somewhat,  but  much  larger 
than  any  human  being  I  ever  saw.  He  must 
have  been  at  least  ten  feet  high.  He  had  great 
wings  on  his  back.  He  was  black  as  the  coal 
I  had  been  digging,  and  in  a  perfectly  nude  con- 
dition. He  had  a  large  spear  in  his  hand,  the 
handle  of  which  must  have  been  fully  fifteen 


2O2  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

feetin  length.  His  eyes  shone  like  balls  of  fire. 
His  teeth,  white  as  pearl,  seemed  fully  an  inch 
long.  His  nose,  if  you  could  call  it  a  nose,  was 
very  large,  broad  and  flat.  His  hair  was  very 
coarse,  heavy  and  long.  It  hung  down  on  his 
massive  shoulders.  His  voice  sounded  more 
like  the  growls  of  a  lion  in  a  menagerie  than 
anything  I  can  recall.  It  was  during  one  of 
these  flashes  of  light  that  I  first  saw  him.  I 
trembled  like  an  aspen  leaf  at  the  sight.  He 
had  his  spear  raised  as  if  to  send  it  flying 
through  me.  I  suddenly  stopped.  With  that 
terrible  voice  I  seem  to  hear  yet,  he  bade  me 
follow  him  ;  that  he  had  been  sent  to  guide  me 
on  my  journey.  I  followed.  What  else  could 
I  do?  After  he  had  gone  some  distance  a  huge 
mountain  appeared  to  rise  up  before  us.  The 
part  facing  us  seemed  perpendicular,  just  as  if 
a  mountain  had  been  cut  in  two  and  one  part 
had  been  taken  away.  On  this  perpendicular 
wall  I  could  distinctly  see  these  words,  '  This  is 
Hell.'  My  guide  approached  this  perpendicu- 
lar wall,  and  with  his  spear-handle  gave  three 
loud  raps.  A  large  massive  door  swung  back 
and  we  passed  in.  I  was  then  conducted  on 
through  what  appeared  to  be  a  passage  through 
this  mountain,  For  some  time  we  traveled  in 


FORTY-EIGHT   HOURS  IN  HELL.         2O3 

Egyptian  darkness.  I  could  hear  the  heavy 
footfalls  of  my  guide,  and  thus  could  follow 
him.  All  along  the  way  I  could  hear  deep 
groans,  as  of  some  one  dying.  Further  on, 
these  groans  increased,  and  I  could  distinctly 
hear  the  cry  for  water,  water,  water.  Coming 
now  to  another  gateway,  and,  passing  through, 
I  could  hear,  it  seemed,  a  million  voices  in  the 
distance,  and  the  cry  was  for  water,  water. 
Presently  another  large  door  opened  at  the 
knock  of  my  guide,  and  I  found  that  we  had 
passed  through  the  mountain,  and  now  a  broad 
plain  lay  out  before  me.  At  this  place  my  guide 
left  me  to  direct  other  lost  spirits  to  the  same 
destination.  I  remained  in  this  open  plainfor  a 
time,  when  a  being  somewhat  similar  to  the  first 
one  came  to  me;  but,  instead  of  a  spear,  he  had 
a  huge  sword.  He  came  to  tell  me  of  my  fu- 
ture doom.  He  spoke  with  a  voice  that  struck 
terror  to  my  soul.  '  Thou  art  in  hell/  said  he; 
'  for  thee  all  hope  is  fled.  As  thou  passed 
through  the  mountain  on  thy  journey  hither, 
thou  didst  hear  the  groans  and  shrieks  of  the 
lost  as  they  called  for  water  to  cool  thei* 
parched  tongues.  Along  that  passage  tnere  \* 
a  door  that  opens  into  the  lake  of  fire.  This  is 
soon  to  be  thy  doom.  Before  thou  art  con 


204  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

ducted  to  this  place  of  torment  never  more  to 
emerge  —  for  there  is  no  hope  for  those  who  en- 
ter there  —  thou  shalt  be  permitted  to  remain  in 
this  open  plain,  where  it  is  granted  to  all  the 
lost  to  behold  what  they  might  have  enjoyed, 
instead  of  what  they  must  suffer.'  With  this 
I  was  left  alone.  Whether  the  result  of 
the  terrible  fright  through  which  I  had  passed 
I  know  not,  but  now  I  became  stupified.  A 
dull  languor  took  full  possession  of  my  frame. 
My  strength  departed  from  me.  My  limbs 
longer  refused  to  support  my  body.  Overcome, 
I  now  sank  down  a  helpless  mass.  Drowsiness 
now  took  control  of  me.  Half  awake,  half 
asleep,!  seemed  to  dream.  Far  above  me  and 
in  the  distance  I  saw  the  beautiful  city  of  which 
we  read  in  the  Bible.  How  wonderfully  beau- 
tiful were  its  walls  of  jasper.  Stretching  out 
and  away  in  the  distance  I  saw  vast  plains  cov- 
ered with  beautiful  flowers.  I,  too,  beheld  the 
river  of  life  and  the  sea  of  glass.  Vast  multi- 
tudes of  angels  would  pass  in  and  out  through 
the  gates  of  the  city,  singing,  oh,  such  beautiful 
songs.  Among  the  number  I  saw  my  dear  old 
mother,  who  died  a  few  years  ago  of  a  broken 
heart  because  of  my  wickedness.  She  looked 
toward  me,  and  seemed  to  beckon  me  to  her, 


FORTY-HEIGHT  HOURS  IN  HELL.         205 

out  I  c6ul<J  not  move.  There  appeared  to  be  a 
great  weight  upon  me  that  held  me  down.  Now 
a  gentle  breeze  wafted  the  fragrance  of  those 
lovely  flowers  to  me,  and  I  could  now,  more 
plainly  than  ever,  hear  the  sweet  melody  of 
angel  voices,  and  I  said,  oh,  that  I  could  be  one 
of  them.  As  I  was  drinking  from  this  cup  of 
bliss  it  was  suddenly  dashed  from  my  lips.  I 
was  aroused  from  my  slumbers.  I  was  brought 
back  from  happy  dreamland  by  an  inmate  of 
my  dark  abode,  who  said  to  me  that  it  was  now 
time  to  enter  upon  my  future  career.  He  bade 
me  follow  him.  Retracing  my  steps  I  again 
entered  the  dark  passage  way,  and  followed  my 
guide  for  a  time,  when  we  came  to  a  door  that 
opened  in  the  side  of  the  passage,  and,  going 
along  this,  we  finally  found  ourselves  passing 
through  another  door,  and  lo !  I  beheld  the  lake 
of  fire.  Just  before  me  I  could  see,  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach,  that  literal  lake  of  fire  and 
brimstone.  Huge  billows  of  fire  would  roll 
over  each  other,  and  great  waves  of  fiery  flame 
would  dash  against  each  other  and  leap  high  in 
the  air  like  the  waves  of  the  sea  during  a  vio- 
lent storm.  On  the  crest  of  these  waves  I 
could  see  human  beings  rise,  but  soon  to  be 
carried  down  again  to  the  lowest  depth  of  this 


2O6  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

awful  lake  of  fire.  When  borne  on  the  crest 
of  these  awful  billows  for  a  time  their  curses 
against  a  just  God  would  be  appalling,  and 
their  pitiful  cries  for  water  would  be  heartrend- 
ing. This  vast  region  of  fire  echoed  and  re- 
echoed with  the  wails  of  these  lost  spirits. 
Presently  I  turned  my  eyes  to  the  door  through 
which  I  had  a  few  moments  before  entered,  and 
I  read  these  awful  words:  *  This  is  thy  doom  ; 
Eternity  never  ends.'  Shortly  I  began  to  feel 
the  earth  give  way  beneath  my  feet,  and  I  soon 
found  myself  sinking  down  into  the  lake  of  fire. 
An  indiscribable  thirst  for  water  now  seized 
upon  me.  And  calling  for  water,  my  eyes 
opened  in  the  prison  hospital. 

"  I  have  never  told  this  experience  of  mine 
before,  for  fear  the  prison  officials  would  get 
hold  of  it,  think  me  insane,  and  lock  me  up  in 
the  crank-house.  I  passed  through  all  this,  and 
I  am  as  well  satisfied  as  I  am  that  I  live,  that 
there  is  a  Heaven  and  there  is  a  Hell,  and  a 
regular  old-fashioned  Hell,  the  kind  the  Bible 
tells  about.  But  there  is  one  thing  certain,  I 
am  never  going  to  that  place  any  more.  As 
soon  as  I  opened  my  eyes  in  the  hospital,  and  I 
found  that  I  was  alive  and  on  earth  once  more, 
I  immediately  gave  my  heart  to  God,  and  I  am 


FORTY-EIGHT  HOURS  IN  HELL.         2O? 

going  to  live  and  die  a  Christian.  While  the 
terrible  sights  of  Hell  can  never  be  banished 
from  my  memory,  neither  can  the  beautiful 
things  of  Heaven  I  saw.  I  am  going  to  meet 
my  dear  old  mother  after  awhile.  To  be  per- 
mitted to  sit  down  on  the  banks  of  that  beauti- 
ful river,  to  wander  with  those  angels  across 
the  plains,  through  the  vales  and  over  the  hills 
carpeted  with  fragrant  flowers,  the  beauty  of 
which  far  surpasses  anything  that  mortal  can 
imagine;  to  listen  to  the  songs  of  the  saved  — 
all  this  will  more  than  compensate  me  for  living 
the  life  of  a  Christian  here  on  earth,  even  if  I 
have  to  forego  many  sensual  pleasures  in 
which  I  indulged  before  coming  to  this  prison. 
I  have  abandoned  my  companions  in  crime, 
and  am  going  to  associate  with  good  people 
when  I  am  once  more  a  free  man." 

After  he  got  through  with  this  wonderful 
story  I  asked  him  if  he  was  going  to  tell  others 
of  his  experience  when  he  got  out.  His 
reply  was  that  people  would  not  believe  him, 
and  he  would  keep  it  to  himself.  Should  this 
little  book  fall  into  his  hands,  and  he  should 
read  of  his  experience  while  in  Hell  for  forty- 
eight  hours,  it  will  no  doubt  surprise  him. 


208  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

We  give  the  account  to  the  reader  just  as  we 
received  it  from  Lennox.  We  do  not  pretend 
to  solve  the  mystery. 


CHAPTER  X. 

STOLEN   HORSES. 

JUSTICE  should  be  meted  out  to  many  who, 
though  guilty,  are  shrewd  enough  to  evade  it. 
From  one  of  the  most  notorious  horse-thieves 
in  the  Kansas  penitentiary  I  learned  of  the 
manner  in  which  stolen  horses  were  disposed 
of. 

This  convict's  name  is  John  Watkins.  He 
served  a  term  of  three  years  in  the  Missouri 
penitentiary,  and  is  now  serving  out  a  ten 
years'  sentence  in  the  Kansas  State's  prison. 
He  is  the  chief  convict  steward  in  the  hospital, 
and  an  able  assistant  of  the  prison  physician, 
by  whom  his  services  are  highly  appreciated. 
This  prisoner  has  immediate  care  of  all  the 
sick.  His  heart  is  tender  as  that  of  a  woman. 
To  listen  to  this  man,  as  he  sat  with  tearful 
eye  at  the  bedside  of  the  dying  prisoner,  and 
spoke  words  of  cheer  to  him,  one  would 
scarcely  believe  him  to  be  the  most  daring  and 
one  of  the  shrewdest  horse-thieves  that  ever 
visited  our  State.  In  conversation  with  him 
one  night  as  I  lay  on  my  sick  bed  in  the  hos- 

The  Twin  Hells.  14  209 


210  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

pital,  he  gave  me  an  outline  of  his  life's  history 
that  reads  much  like  a  romance. 

I  said  to  him,  "  John,  tell  me  how  many 
horses  you  have  stolen  during  the  time  you 
have  been  engaged  in  that  line  of  business?" 

His  reply  was,  that  if  he  had  stolen  one 
more  he  would  have  been  successful  in  having 
stolen  an  even  two  hundred. 

"  What  did  you  do  with  them  after  you  had 
stolen  them?  " 

He  told  me  his  headquarters  were  in  Kan- 
sas City;  that  he  would  go  up  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Omaha  and  Lincoln  and  get  his  horses, 
and  tie  them  in  the  woods  until  he  had  picked 
up  a  number  of  them,  and  then  he  would  make 
his  way  to  the  south.  Horses  stolen  in  Ne- 
braska he  would  run  south  to  sell.  Those 
stolen  in  Missouri  and  Kansas  he  would  take 
to  the  north.  He  told  me  that  in  Omaha, 
St.  Joseph,  Atchison,  Leavenworth  and  Kan- 
sas City  there  were  dealers,  usually  keepers 
of  livery  stables,  who  would  purchase  these 
stolen  horses.  He  gave  me  the  names  of  a 
number  of  these  men,  some  of  whom  I  know 
personally.  Little  would  I  ever  have  sus, 
pected  that  these  men  were  engaged  in  such 
a  wicked  traffic  as  knowingly  to  deal  in 


STOLEN  HORSES.  211 

stolen  property.  "  When  I  had  a  number 
of  horses,"  he  continued,  "  and  wished 
to  dispose  of  them  in  St.  Joseph,  for  instance,  I 
would  ride  into  the  suburbs  of  the  city  and  send 
a  note  to  the  man  who  usually  purchased  my 
stock.  I  would  never  be  seen  about  his  barn. 
After  night  he  would  make  his  way  to  where  I 
was  and  purchase  my  horses,  paying  me  about 
one-half  what  they  would  really  bring  in  the 
general  market.  I  would  get  about  fifty  dollars 
for  an  average  horse.  After  purchasing  my 
stolen  horses  he  would  not  take  them  to  his 
livery  barn,  but  to  a  private  stable,  usually  at 
his  residence.  When  he  would  pay  over  the 
money  for  this  stolen  property  he  would  make 
out  a  bill  of  sale  for  each  one,  and  would  step 
into  a  store  or  grocery,  and  in  the  presence  of 
some  business  man  he  would  say  to  me,  '  we 
will  sign  the  bill  of  sale  for  that  horse  I  bought 
of  you,  and  have  this  gentleman  to  witness  the 
transaction.  I  gave  you  fifty  dollars  at  the  barn, 
and  now  here  is  fifty  dollars  more,  which  makes 
the  hundred,  the  sum  I  was  to  pay  for  the  ani- 
mal.' I  would  take  the  money,  sign  the  bill  of 
sale,  which  would  be  witnessed  by  the  business 
man  in  whose  presence  the  trade  was  consum- 
mated. We  would  then  go  to  another  place  of 


212  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

business  and  sign  a  bill  of  sale  for  another  horse, 
and  have  that  witnessed  by  another  business 
man,  and  wouldcontinue  this  until  all  the  horses 
I  had  sold  were  paid  for.  In  this  manner  he 
would  shift  all  responsibility  of  crime  upon  me. 
Securing  my  money  I  would  rest  for  a  time  un- 
til '  I  went  broke,'  and  then  I  would  make  an- 
other trip.  The  horse  merchant  would  some- 
times keep  his  horses  until  he  had  picked  up  a 
car  load,  and  then  he  would  ship  them  out  of 
the  country  to  Chicago,  St.  Louis  or  some  other 
horse  market.  Sometimes  the  horse  I  iyer 
would  run  stolen  property  out  into  the  country 
and  exchange  it  for  other  property  in  whi;hhe 
would  have  a  good  title  and  which  he  could  take 
to  his  livery  barn  and  feel  safe  with  it  there." 

"  What  did  you  do  with  your  money, 
John?  "  I  inquired.  • 

To  this  question  he  answered  that  in  Kansas 
City  he  had  a  suite  of  rooms  fitted  up  in  elegant 
style,  and  kept  a  mistress.  Upon  this  woman 
he  squandered  all  his  money,  obtained  hon- 
estly and  dishonestly.  In  addition  to  his  horse- 
thieving  raids  he  had  several  other  sources  of 
criminalrevenue.  One  of  these  sources  he  de- 
scribed as  follows:  "  I  kept  a  horse  and  wagon, 
the  wheels  of  which  were  covered  with  india 


STOLEN   HORSES,  213 

rubber..  The  feet  of  the  horse  were  also  en- 
cased in  the  same  material.  I  could  move  about 
the  streets  of  the  city  in  the  late  hours  of  the 
night  without  making  any  disturbance,  and 
would  pick  up  anything  I  could  lay  my  hands 
on  that  I  could  convert  into  money.  I  have 
carried  away  many  a  stove  and  broken  it  up 
and  sold  it  for  old  iron.  I  would  also  make  my 
way  out  into  the  country  and  pillage.  Often  I 
would  enter  small  towns  and  load  up  my  noise- 
less  wagon  with  stolen  goods,  which  I  would 
take  out  of  the  stores.  All  of  this  money  I 
would  foolishly  spend  on  the  woman  I  loved." 
"  How  did  you  happen  to  get  caught?" 
"  One  day  on  the  streets  of  Kansas  City  I 
accidentally  met  an  ex-convict  whom  I  knew 
while  in  Jefferson  City  penitentiary.  He  was 
penniless  and  somewhat  shabby.  He  suspected 
me  of  crooked  work,  and  wanted  to  go  with  me 
on  a  '  horse  raid. '  At  first  I  refused  to  take  him 
with  me,  as  it  has  always  been  my  rule  to  go 
alone  when  in  the  crooked  business.  He  per- 
sisted and  urged  me  to  let  him  go  along.  At 
last  I  yielded  to  his  appeals,  and  we  started  from 
Kansas  City.  I  have  never  been  back  since. 
yiy  '  pal '  was  caught  on  this  trip  and  offered  to 
turn  State's  evidence  if  he  could  regain  his  lib- 


214  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

erty.     He  was  allowed  to  do  this.     I  was  tried 
and  got  a  ten  years' sentence.     He  went  free." 

"What  became  of  the  woman?"  I  asked. 

"  When  in  jail  at  Leavenworth  and  in  need 
of  money  to  pay  my  lawyer,  I  wrote  her  a  let- 
ter informing  her  of  my  trouble,  and  begged 
her  to  send  me  some  money.  She  forgot  to 
answer  that  letter,  and  I  have  never  seen  or 
heard  from  her  since  that  time." 

"  I  suppose  when  your  time  is  up  you  will 
hunt  her  up  and  fit  up  another  suite  of  rooms, 
won't  you  ?  " 

"  Never,"  said  he.  "  When  I  get  out  I  am 
going  to  lead  an  honest  life  and  take  care  of 
my  money.  It  does  not  pay  to  get  money  by 
crookedness.  Such  money  never  does  one 
any  good." 

Having  imparted  this  information  he  bade 
me  good  night  and  went  over  to  another  part 
of  the  ward,  where  he  took  his  place  beside 
the  cot  of  a  dying  convict. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  STATE  SENATE. 

THE  author  of  this  book  has  been  guilty  of 
a  great  many  bad  breaks  during  the  course  of 
his  earthly  pilgrimage  up  to  the  present  date. 
Making  the  race  for  State  senator  from  the 
Atchison  district  while  an  inmate  of  the  Kan- 
sas penitentiary,  actually  an  occupant  of  a 
felon's  cell,  and  robed  in  the  livery  of  dis- 
grace, probably  eelipsed  anything  that  maybe 
charged  to  my  account  in  the  past. 

One  Sunday  afternoon,  after  the  usual  ex- 
ercises of  the  day  were  over,  I  was  sitting  in 
my  little  4x7  of  stone.  The  outside  world 
was  in  convulsions  over  the  presidential  cam- 
paign. There  were  no  convulsions,  however, 
where  I  was.  It  was  painfully  quiet.  Every- 
where, all  over  the  broad  land,  except  behind 
prison  walls,  politics  was  the  all-absorbing 
topic.  As  I  sat  there  in  my  solitude  the  ques- 
tion came  to  my  mind  as  to  what  part  of  the 
great  political  play  I  would  be  engaged  in  were 
I  a  free  man.  Some  months  prior  to  this  a  pe- 
tition signed  by  5,000  people  had  been  for- 


2l6  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

warded  to  President  Cleveland  for  my  pardon. 
Had  I  secured  my  liberty  it  was  my  intention  to 
make  the  race  for  State  senator  in  my  district 
for  vindication.  Mr.  Cleveland  interfered  with 
my  plan  by  refusing  my  pardon. 

Thinking  over  the  matter  in  my  cell  that 
Sunday  afternoon,  I  determined  that  while  the 
President  had  the  power  of  keeping  me  in 
prison  he  should  not  keep  me  from  making  the 
race  for  the  position  I  coveted.  Immediate 
action  followed  my  decision.  Within  thirty 
minutes  I  had  written  a  letter  for  publication, 
stating  my  intention  of  becoming  an  independ- 
ent candidate.  But  how  was  I  to  get  this  letter 
out  of  the  prison  and  into  the  newspapers  of 
my  district. 

It  is  expected  of  the  convict  that  during 
Sunday  afternoon  he  will  sit  quietly  in  his  cell 
and  meditate  abouthis  past  misdeeds.  I  would 
be  dishonest  if  I  did  not  state  that  my  thoughts 
were  now  more  taken  up  with  the  probable 
outcome  of  the  course  I  had  adopted  than  of 
lamenting  over  my  past  shortcomings.  I  rea- 
soned that  I  was  not  only  pursuing  an  original, 
but  a  safe  course.  Original,  in  that  no  one,  so 
far  as  my  knowledge  extended,  had  ever  made 
the  race  for  office  while  a  convict;  safe,  in  that 


CANDIDATE   FOR   STATE   SENATE.        2  I/ 

I  had  nothing  to  lose  and  everything  to  gain.  I 
will  frankly  confess  that  when  the  thought, 
suppose  I  should  not  get  more  than  a  dozen 
votes,  would  rush  into  my  mind,  I  would  feel  as 
if  I  had  better  not  be  so  fresh  while  in  limbo. 
Several  times  during  the  afternoon  and  evening 
I  took  up  the  piece  of  paper,  on  which  was 
written  my  announcement,  to  te".r  it  into  shreds, 
and  as  often  I  would  lay  it  down.  I  viewed  the 
subject  from  almost  every  conceivable  stand- 
point. I  reasoned  as  follows:  Priorto  this  I  had 
decided  to  write  a  book  on  my  penitentiary 
career,  as  well  as  to  deliver  a  lecture  at  various 
points  in  the  State  on  the  same  subject.  To  be 
successful  in  these  enterprises  I  mustbe  adver- 
tised. And  I  knew  that  should  I  annonnce  my- 
self as  a  candidate  for  such  an  important  office 
while  in  the  penitentiary  I  would  get  a  good 
ventilation.  In  this  I  was  not  mistaken.  When 
the  announcement  appeared  in  the  Leaven- 
worth  Times  it  was  quickly  copied  and  com- 
mented upon  by  the  newspapers  all  over  the 
country.  Some  of  these  newspapers  in  their 
comments  stated  that  I  had  more  "  cheek  " 
than  should  be  allotted  to  ordinary  mortals. 
Some  said  "  he  is  a  nervy  cuss."  Others  said 
"  his  back  isn't  broken."  Now  and  then  one 


2l8  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

could  be  found  that  predicted  my  election. 
So  the  matter  was  discussed,  pro  and  con,  for 
several  weeks,  not  only  by  the  newspapers  of 
Kansas,  but  whole  columns  would  appear  in 
the  St.  Louis,  Chicago  and  Denver  papers,  as 
well  as  those  of  other  cities.  I  was  advertised. 
It  would  have  cost  me  thousands  of  dollars  to 
pay  for  the  ventilation  I  received  just  for  mak- 
ing that  little  simple  announcement,  had  I 
been  forced  to  pay  the  regular  rates  of  adver- 
tising. 

But  to  return.  It  was  at  a  late  hour  of  the 
night  when  I  closed  my  eyes  in  slumber.  Be- 
fore doing  so  I  had  made  the  final  decision;  I 
had  crossed  the  Rubicon;  I  had  looked  the 
ground  over,  and  had  my  plans  well  matured. 
The  next  morning,  after  the  day's  work  had 
commenced,  and  the  warden  had  come  down 
to  his  office,  I  asked  permission  of  my  officer 
to  see  Captain  Smith.  The  officer  wanted  to 
know  what  my  business  was  with  the  warden. 
My  reply  was,  "  Official  and  strictly  private." 
My  request  was  granted.  I  was  soon  standing 
in  the  presence  of  the  big-hearted  Warden 
Smith,  and  being  asked  as  to  what  I  wanted, 
I  said,  "  Captain,  I  thought  I  would  come  in 
and  get  your  opinion  as  to  whether  I  was  crazy 


CANDIDATE  FOR  STATE  SENATE         219 

or  not,  and  if  you  think  I  am  not  beside  my- 
self I  would  like  to  make  a  statement  to  you 
and  ask  your  advice."  A  few  days  before  this 
I  had  had  several  interviews  with  him  as  to  my 
pardon,  and  other  business  matters,  and  I  sup- 
pose he  thought  he  was  going  to  get  something 
more  along  the  same  line.  "  Go  ahead,  John," 
he  said,  "  and  let  me  know  what  it  is. "  I  then 
told  him  of  my  intentions  and  plans.  He 
made  no  reply  until  I  had  gone  over  the  whole 
subject.  Then  he  said;  "  You  are  certainly  on 
the  safe  side,  for  you  can  lose  nothing.  I  always 
thought,"  continued  he,  "  that  it  was  practical 
to  engage  in  any  enterprise  where  all  was  gain 
and  nothing  to  lose.  And,  furthermore,  know- 
ing your  standing  at  home,  it  would  not  sur- 
prise me  very  much  if  you  would  receive  more 
votes  than  your  competitors." 

This  was  encouraging.  I  then  asked  per- 
mission to  write  letters  to  a  number  of  my 
friends,  and  also  to  receive  letters  from  them. 
He  informed  me  he  could  not  do  this,  as  it 
vonld  be  a  violation  of  the  rules  of  the  prison, 
but  if  any  of  my  friends  should  come  down  I 
could  send  out  anything  by  them  I  wished.  I 
then  wired  a  personal  friend,  A.  S.  Hall,  Esq., 
of  Atchison,  who  called  at  the  prison,  to  whom 


2 JO  THE    TWIN    HELLS. 

I  gave  my  letter  of  announcement,  and  severai 
letters  I  had  written  to  political  friends. 

The  news  spread  rapidly,  and  in  a  few  days 
I  was  squarely  before  the  people  as  an  inde- 
pendent candidate.  Shortly  after  this  announce- 
ment I  wrote  an  article  for  the  papers,  stating 
my  reasons  for  making  the  senatorial  race. 
When  writing  this  communication  I  forgot  I 
was  a  prisoner,  and  said  some  things  that  re- 
flected seriously  upon  some  of  the  warden's 
personal  friends.  Here,  I  made  a  mistake. 
The  warden,  on  reading  this  article,  became  en- 
raged, and  took  away  my  writing  material.  At 
this  juncture  the  senatorial  outlook  was  rather 
discouraging.  My  friends  championed  my 
cause.  Although  eight  hundred  feet  under  the 
Kansas  penitentiary,  and  perfectly  helpless,  so 
far  as  aiding  myself,  yet  I  proved  victorious. 
When  the  electron  returns  came  in  they 
showed  that  I  had  received  twice  as  many 
votes  as  my  competitor.  He  is  one  of  the 
best  men  in  the  senatorial  district,  one  of 
the  old  settlers,  and  a  gentleman  highly  es- 
teemed. To  receive  twice  as  many  votes  as 
this  man,  was  highly  complimentary  to  me.  I 


CANDIDATE  FOR  STATE  SENATE.   221 

certainly  felt  flattered.  When  the  vote  was 
made  known  I  received  an  official  copy  of  the 
returns,  and  forwarded  it  to  President  Cleve- 
land. My  term  was  then  almost  ended,  and  I 
felt  confident  that  because  of  the  splendid  vote  I 
had  received,  and  consequent  endorsement  of 
the  people  who  were  personally  acquainted 
with  me,  Mr.  Cleveland  would  certainly  grant  a 
pardon.  He  did  not  so  much  as  answer  my 
communication. 

No  one  can  imagine  the  anxiety  I  felt  dur- 
ing that  campaign.  Had  I  received  but  a 
small  vote  it  would  have  required  more  nerve 
than  I  possess  to  have  induced  me  to  return 
to  my  old  home.  But  when  the  vote  was 
counted,  and  I  received  the  returns,  I  must 
write  it  down  as  one  of  the  happiest  hours  of 
my  life.  I  had  many  true  friends,  and  they 
demonstrated  that  fact  by  voting  for  me. 
Although  in  the  garb  of  a  felon,  was  not  the 
vote  I  received  a  grand  vindication?  Any 
person  of  sense  must  answer  in  the  affirma- 
tive. 

Looking  over  the  past,  I  can  now  see  that 
I  made  no  mistake  in  carrying  into  effect  the 
scheme  to  which  my  mind  gave  birth  on  that 
Sunday  afternoon  as  I  sat  in  my  little  cell. 


222  THE   TWIN    HELLS. 

That  no  one  may  doubt  this  remarkable  state- 
ment, I  herewith  append  the  following  certifi- 
cate. It  will  certainly  convince  any  one  who 
reads  this  chapter  that  I  should  not  have  been 
sent  to  a  penitentiary,  and  that  my  severe  pun- 
ishment was  the  result  of  bitter  persecution. 
ATCHISON,  KAS.,  Aug.  2,  1890. 

This  is  to  certify:  That  John  N.  Reynolds, 
ivhile  an  inmate  of  the  Kansas  penitentiary, 
liade  the  race  for  State  Senator  of  Atchison 
county,  Kansas,  and  that  the  election  returns  on 
file  in  my  office  show  that  he  received  twice  as 
many  votes,  wanting  one,  as  Hon.  George  J. 
Martin,  his  competitor  for  the  same  position. 
Witness  my  hand  and  seal  of  office,  this  2d  day 

of  August,  A.  D.  1890. 

CHAS.  H.  KREBS, 

[SEAL.]  County  Clerk. 

I  will  close  this  chapter  by  tendering  my 
friends,  who  voted  and  worked  for  me  at  the 
time  when  I  so  much  stood  in  need  of  their  aid, 
my  heartfelt  gratitude. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A  DARK  HOUR. 

IT  was  a  bright  Sabbath  morning.  I  had 
been  detailed  to  assist  the  prison  choir  in  their 
preparation  for  the  religious  services  of  the 
day.  While  engaged  in  this  duty,  the  deputy 
warden  sent  for  me.  Meeting  this  official,  he 
said  to  me,  "  John,  I  have  sad  news  for  you. 
Governor  Martin  has  just  telephoned  from 
Atchison  that  your  wife  is  dead,  and  that  it 
was  his  wish  to  have  you  sent  home  at  once." 

This  was  a  great  surprise  to  me.  I  had 
heard  from  my  wife  only  two  days  before  this. 
Atthattime  she  was  quite  sick,  but  was  thought 
to  be  improving.  With  a  heart  filled  with  sad- 
ness Inowpreparedformy  journey  home.  The 
warden  was  absent,  and  the  deputy  warden 
said,  "  There  was  no  precedent  for  permitting  a 
prisoner  to  go  home  on  a  visit,  as  such  a  thing 
had  never  occurred  before  in  the  history  of  the 
State,  but,"  continued  he,  "  if  you  will  give  me 
your  word  that  you  will  return  to  the  prison  I 
will  let  you  go. "  I  told  him  to  set  the  time  for 
my  return  and  I  would  be  back.  Mr.  Morgan, 


224  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

the  turnkey  of  the  prison,  was  my  guard.  My 
journey  from  the  prison  was  the  saddest  of  my 
life.  It  was  a  bright  May  morning.  Everything 
around  seemed  joyful  and  happy,  but  to  me  the 
world  was  gloomy.  I  imagined  my  wife  lying 
at  home  a  corpse,  surrounded  by  my  weeping, 
motherless  little  ones.  She  had  passed  away 
without  my  being  at  her  bedside  to  go  with  her 
to  the  brink  of  the  dark  river.  Mr.  Morgan, 
my  attendant,  had  lost  his  mother  but  a  short 
time  before  this,  and  he  could  sympathize  with 
me  in  a  manner  that  aided  me  in  bearing  my 
burdens. 

After  riding  for  a  couple  of  hours  we  ar- 
rived at  Atchison.  The  train  on  reaching  the 
city  passes  on  some  two  blocks  beyond  the  de- 
pot; then  backs  down.  As  I  thus  passed  by 
the  depot  I  saw  numerous  friends  who  had 
heard  of  my  coming,  and  were  there  waiting  to 
welcome  me  to  my  home.  They  saluted  me  as 
I  sat  in  the  car  at  the  window  and  passed  on  by 
the  depot.  I  thought  they  exhibited  too  much 
joy  in  receiving  a  friend  who  was  coming  back 
to  see  his  dead  wife.  I  wondered  at  it.  When 
the  train  stopped  to  back  down  to  the  depot,  I 
got  orT  and  took  the  nearest  cut  to  my  resi- 
dence. Walking  some  four  blocks  I  reached 


A   DARK   HOUR.  22$ 

tny  home.  When  nearing  the  gate,  one  of  my 
little  daughters  came  bounding  across  the 
street,  full  of  joy  and  gladness,  welcoming  me 
home.  I  thought  she  acted  rather  strange  for 
her  mother  to  be  lying  in  the  house  a  corpse. 
Without  saying  anything  I  stepped  to  the  door; 
it  was  standing  ajar.  Looking  in,  I  saw  my 
wife  lying  in  the  adjoining  room — not  dead! 
Thank  God!  It  seemed  as  if  I  had  stepped 
into  another  world.  My  wife  was  very  sick, 
but  still  conscious.  Oh!  what  joy  I  felt  at  once 
more  being  able  to  see  my  wife  and  to  talk  with 
her.  All  the  way  from  the  prison  to  the  door 
of  my  residence  I  was  laboring  under  a  false 
impression.  I  drank  the  cup  to  its  very  dregs. 
I  could  have  suffered  no  more  on  that  journey 
home  if  she  had  been  dead.  In  fact  I  sup- 
posed she  was.  Governor  Martin  had  made 
a  mistake  in  transmitting  the  message,  or  had 
been  wrongly  informed. 

I  do  not  know  how  it  came  that  I  was  per- 
mitted to  return  home.  I  was  a  United  States' 
prisoner.  As  such,  Governor  Martin  had  no 
control  over  me.  No  one  had  authority  to 
send  me  home  on  such  a  furlough  except  Pres- 
ident Cleveland.  But  I  care  nothing  about 
this.  I  did  not  stop  to  inquire  about  the 

The  Twin  Hells  i« 


226  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

authority;  when  the  prison  doors  came  open  I 
left  for  home.  I  was  furnished  a  citizen's  suit 
of  clothes.  I  remained  at  home  for  nearly  a 
week.  Many  friends  came  to  see  me.  This 
to  me  was  one  of  the  best  weeks  of  my  life. 

A  little  occurrence  took  place,  during  this 
short  stay  at  home,  which  I  will  mention  here. 
I  have  a  legal  friend  at  Atchison  by  the  name 
of  Hon.  D.  C.  Arnold.  This  man,  when  tested, 
proves  himself  true  to  those  who  have  gained 
his  good  will.  He  conceived  the  idea  that 
sending  me  out  of  the  penitentiary,  in  citizen's 
clothing,  was  without  warrant  in  law  or  prece- 
dent in  fact,  and  that,  by  releasing  me  in  that 
way,  they  had  lost  control  of  me.  Unknown  to 
me  he  had  prepared  an  application  in  habeas 
corpus.  The  judge  of  the  District  Court,  Hon. 
W.  D.  Gilbert,  who  was  on  the  bench  at  the 
time,  was  a  personal  friend  of  his  and  mine 
also,  as  I  had  something  to  do  in  his  election, 
and  had  the  application  been  presented  to  him, 
the  judge  would  have  inclined  to  turn  me  loose, 
and  I  would  have  been  a  free  man.  When 
Mr.  Arnold  informed  me  as  to  what  he  was 
doing,  I  told  him  that  I  had  given  my  word 
of  honor  that  I  would  return  to  the  prison, 
and  that  I  would  keep  it. 


A  DARK  HOUR.  22/ 

At  the  expiration  of  a  week  I  returned  to 

my  prison  cell.  A  petition,  signed  by  nearly 
five  thousand  people,  had  been  forwarded  to 
President  Cleveland  for  my  pardon.  I  had 
some  hopes  of  securing  relief.  I  bade  my  wife 
good-by.  I  thought  sure  I  would  be  sent  home 
in  a  few  days.  My  wife  hopefully  entertained 
the  same  opinion.  We  were  both  deceived. 
When  I  reached  the  prison,  the  deputy  warden, 
Mr.  Higgins,  when  he  was  informed  by  the 
officer,  Mr.  Morgan,  who  attended  me  home, 
howl  refused  my  chances  of  liberty  by  means 
of  the  proceedings  in  habeas  corpus,  contem- 
plated by  my  friends,  choosing  imprisonment 
rather  than  breaking  my  word,  called  me  into 
his  office,  and  said  that  there  was  not  one  man 
in  ten  placed  in  my  circumstances  that  would 
have  done  as  I  did.  He  then  said  to  me:  "  Rey- 
nolds, I  will  see  that  you  have  no  more  hard 
work  to  do  while  you  are  in  the  penitentiary;  I 
would  give  you  your  liberty  if  I  could,  but  that 
is  beyond  my  power.  I  will  make  it  as  agree- 
able for  you  as  possible  in  the  prison."  He 
got  another  man  to  take  my  place  in  the  mines, 
and  I  was  given  an  easy  task  from  that  on.  I 
was  detailed  to  make  out  reports  for  the  prison 
officials,  and  was  kept  busy,  and  was,  as  I  was 


228  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

informed,  a  very  valuable  man  in  that  capacity. 
This  kind  of  work  was  in  keeping  with  my 
labors  when  on  the  outside,  and  was  not  hard 
on  me  like  digging  coal.  I  was  given  the  lib- 
erty of  the  prison ;  was  allowed  to  converse 
with  the  prisoners,  and  because  of  these  favors 
shown  me,  I  was  able  to  secure  the  material 
for  this  book. 

The  month  following  my  return  to  the  prison 
was  the  darkest,  the  most  desolate,  and  the 
most  sorrowful  portion  of  my  earthly  pilgrim- 
age yet  experienced.  My  wife  was  at  home 
dying  !  I  was  behind  the  prison  walls!  Dur- 
ing that  month  I  was  entirely  unfit  for  any  kind 
of  work.  The  prison  officials,  knowing  my  sor- 
rows, took  pity  on  me  and  did  not  insist  upon 
my  performing  any  kind  of  labor.  I  was  left 
alone  with  my  grief.  None  but  God  and  the 
angels  knew  what  I  suffered.  During  the  day 
I  could  think  of  nothing  but  my  dying  wife;  in 
the  night-time,  when  the  angel  Sleep  closes  the 
eyelids  down  to  rest,  none  came  to  me;  in  my 
dreams  the  pale  face  of  my  dear  one  at  home 
in  the]agonies  of  death  was  before  me.  I  would 
but  drop  sometimes  into  a  dull  slumber  when  I 
fancied  that  I  could  hear  her  calling  for  me,  and 
thus  aroused,  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  must  burst 


A   DARK   HOUR.  229 

the  prison  bars  and  go  to  her.  Knowing  how 
much  deeper  and  stronger,  purer  and  sweeter 
the  affections  and  sympathies  of  woman  are  than 
those  of  man,  what  must  my  poor,  dead  wife 
have  borne!  For  thirty  days  and  nights  I  en- 
dured these  torments.  At  last  the  hour  came 
whenher  sufferings  ceased.  Reader,  doubtless 
you  have  lost  a  loved  one.  If  so,  you  were  per- 
mitted to  go  down  to  the  very  brink  of  the 
River  of  Death;  you  were  permitted  to  sit  at 
the  bedside  and  administer  words  of  comfort 
and  cheer.  Not  so  with  me.  My  loved  one 
passed  away,  her  husband  kept  from  her  side 
by  prison  bolts  and  bars.  And,  reader,  when 
you  buried  your  loved  one,  kind  friends  con- 
doled with  you,  and  in  some  degree  assuaged 
your  grief.  Not  so  with  me.  When  the  news 
came  that  my  wife  was  dead  I  sat  down  in  my 
solitary  cell  and  shed  my  tears  alone.  The  cup 
that  was  placed  to  my  lips  was  indeed  a  bitter 
one,  and  I  drank  to  the  dregs.  My  wife  was 
one  of  earth's  purest  and  best.  We  lived  to- 
gether as  husband  and  wife  the  fifth  of  a  cen- 
tury. During  those  twenty  years  of  married 
life  my  wife  never  uttered  a  cross  word  to  her 
husband.  What  greater  eulogy  could  be  pro- 
nounced !  In  the  sunshine,  and  as  certainly 


230  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

amid  the  storms  of  life,  she  was  constant  and 
true.  Because  of  her  goodness  of  heart  my 
home  was  cloudless.  Many  times  during  life 
have  the  storms  and  waves  swept  against  my 
trembling  barque,  but  in  that  little  harbor  called 
home  no  storms  ever  came.  Oh,  how  much  a 
man  loses  when  a  good  wife  dies  !  So  great 
was  my  distress  that,  had  it  not  b^een  for  the 
strength  imparted  by  a  pitying  God,  I  never 
could  have  passed  through  that  long  night  of 
suffering.  Gone,  never  to  return. 

When  my  prison  days  were  over,  I  returned 
to  my  old  home  in  Atchison,  but  how  changed 
it  was.  My  wife  in  her  grave;  my  motherless 
children  among  strangers;  my  home  desolate. 
As  I  pen  these  lines,  surrounded  by  the  fogs 
and  mists  of  time,  the  question  comes  to  me 
ever  and  anon,  when  the  hour  shall  come  for 
me  to  close  my  eyes  to  the  scenes  of  earth,  will 
I  be  permitted  to  greet  my  sainted  wife  in  the 
beautiful  city  above?  Yes.  I  have  the  faith 
that  the  loving  Galilean — the  man  of  sorrows, 
who  was  acquainted  with  grief —  will  in  that 
hour  open  the  gates  of  pearl,  and  let  me  in. 
Until  that  happy  hour  —  until  we  meet  in  the 
land  where  none  of  life's  storms  ever  reach, 
my  darling  wife,  farewell! 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

FREEDOM. 

To  all  things  earthly  there  comes  an  end. 
Sixteen  long,  dreary  months  of  imprison- 
ment finally  passed  away.  The  dark  clouds  of 
sadness  and  gloom  that  for  so  long  hung  above 
me  now  parted,  and  folding  themselves  together 
rolled  away  in  the  distance.  The  large  iron 
doors  swung  upon  their  hinges,  and  once  more 
I  breathed  the  air  of  freedom.  Drowsy  Nature 
was  just  being  aroused  from  her  wintry  slum- 
ber by  the  gentle  touch  of  Spring,  as  I  began 
life  anew.  On  that,  to  me,  eventful  morning 
the  sky  appeared  brighter  than  I  had  ever  be- 
held it  before.  O  liberty!  No  one  can  ever  ap- 
preciate thy  blessings  save  him  upon  whose 
limbs  have  pressed  the  cruel  fetters  of  slavery. 
The  sunlight  of  freedom  falls  with  its  greatest 
refulgence  upon  him  who  has  been  surrounded 
for  months  and  years  by  the  baleful  mists  and 
darkness  of  abject  bondage.  The  air  of  liberty 
comes  doubly  surcharged  with  the  fragrance  of 
the  rarest  flowers  to  him  who  has  inhaled  the 
ftted  breath  of  serfdom.  Grateful  to  God  that 


232  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

my  life  had  been  spared;  retaining  all  the  am- 
bition of  former  years;  possessed  of  my  man- 
hood; conscious  of  no  guilt,  I  felt  that,  under 
the  guiding  hand  of  Providence,  there  was  for 
me  a  bright  future.  With  a  determination  to 
succeed,  that  can  never  be  satisfied  short  of 
success,  I  returned  to  my  home.  I  concluded 
that  instead  of  going  to  some  distant  place, 
among  strangers,  it  was  best  for  me  to  return 
to  the  locality  where  all  knew  of  my  misfor- 
tunes and  the  true  causes  that  led  to  them. 
On  my  arrival  at  the  depot  I  was  met  by  a 
multitude  of  friends.  By  the  reception  that 
was  given  me  no  one,  ignorant  of  the  facts, 
would  have  for  a  moment  imagined  that  I  had 
but  a  few  hours  before  vacated  the  cell  of  a 
criminal.  I  pen  these  lines  three  months  from 
the  day  when  I  began  life  anew,  and  during 
that  time  I  have  met  with  no  one  so  base  as  to 
"  snub  "  a  man,  who,  having  met  with  misfor- 
tune, is  honestly  endeavoring  to  regain  what 
he  lost. 

Is  there  any  hope  for  the  ex-convict?  Is  it 
possible  for  him  to  be  clothed  in  the  garments 
of  respectability  who  once  has  been  attired  in 
the  habiliments  of  disgrace?  Can  he  ever  be  a 
man  among  men  who  has  for  a  time  been  num- 


FREEDOM.  233 

bered  with  the  debased  of  earth?  To  these 
questions,  with  all  the  powers  of  my  being,  I 
answer,  YES!  I  do  not  know  how  the  out- 
look may  appear  to  others  who  have  met  a 
similar  misfortune;  but  as  for  myself  I  can 
truthfully  say  I  was  never  more  hopeful  in  my 
life.  There  may  be  storms  in  the  future,  ob- 
stacles to  meet  and  overcome,  but  self  reliant, 
and  trusting  in  Him  who  observes  the  strug- 
gles even  of  the  worm,  I  hope  to  soon  reach 
my  proper  place  among  men,  and  in  the  end 
reap  the  golden  harvest  of  success.  The 
world  is  full  of  kind-hearted  people  who  are 
ready  to  help  those  who,  though  unfortunate, 
are  willing  to  help  themselves.  Scores  of  men 
annually  go  out  from  the  "  Kansas  Hell, "hav- 
ing paid  the  penalties  of  their  crimes,  who  are 
not  so  highly  favored  as  myself,  and  whose 
struggles  will  have  to  be  greater  than  mine  if 
they  ever  secure  a  foothold  of  respectability  in 
life.  In  behalf  of  these  in  their  efforts  to 
become  better  men  I  appeal  to  the  great,  lov- 
ing heart  of  the  true  Kansan.  Help  the  fallen 
in  his  struggles  to  rise  again. 

Since  my  return  home,  several  times  have 
I  visited  the  grave  of  my  wife,  and  often  on 
these  occasions  would  the  hot  blood  go  surg- 


234  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

ing  through  my  veins,  and  my  baser  nature 
would  demand  that  I  avenge  the  death  of  her 
who  was  so  heartlessly  sent  to  an  untimely 
grave.  A  better  judgment  has  prevailed,  and 
as  I  drop  the  tear  of  affection  upon  the  grave 
of  her  who  is  the  mother  of  my  children,  I 
leave  the  wrongs  of  the  past  in  the  hands  of 
an  avenging  God.  May  there  fall  upon  those 
who  were  so  kind  to  my  sorrowing  family  and 
myself  while  we  were  passing  through  the 
deep  waters,  the  radiant  smiles  of  Him  who 
says,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one 
9f  the  least  of  these,  ye  have  done  it  unto 
me." 


A  MISSOURI  HELL 


A  MISSOURI  HELL 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  CONVICT'S  HOME. 

"  JEFFERSON  CITY  is  the  next  station,"  called 
out  the  train  man  as  the  Missouri  Pacific  rolled 
into  the  capital  of  the  great  commonwealth  of 
Missouri.  It  was  two  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
From  an  easy  reclining  chair,  to  an  omn.ibus, 
and  to  a  cozy  room  in  the  Madison  House,  was 
the  work  of  but  a  few  moments.  It  being 
rather  an  unseasonable  hour  to  begin  the  in- 
vestigation of  a  large  penal  institution,  I  made 
a  brief  journey  to  the  land  of  dreams,  and  there 
remained  until  a  noisy  porter  knocked  at  my 
bed-room  door,  and  shouted, "  Nine  o'clock,  last 
call  for  breakfast,  old  man;  if  you  want  any 
thing  to  eat  you  had  betterget  a  move  on  you. " 
Being  of  the  opinion  this  was  rather  a  cheerful 
morning  salutation,  I  arose,  dressed,  and  soon 
felt  better  because  of  a  good  breakfast.  I 
am  now  ready  for  my  work  —  an  investigation 
of  the  Missouri  penitentiary.  Before  leaving 


238  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

my  home  in  Atchison,  Kansas,  I  procured  a 
letter  of  introduction  from  Hon.  B.  P.  Wag- 
gener,  mayor  of  that  city,  to  Governor  Fran- 
cis of  Missouri.  I  found  my  way  to  the  capi- 
tol,  and  to  the  office  of  the  governor.  After  a 
brief  delay  I  was  shown  into  the  private  apart- 
ment of  the  obliging  executive,  where  I  pre- 
sented my  letter,  stated  the  object  of  my  visit, 
and  received  a  letter  to  the  warden  of  the 
prison,  containing  a  request  that  the  bearer  be 
shown  every  thing  there  was  to  be  seen  in  and 
about  the  penitentiary. 

From  the  capitol  to  the  prison  is  a  walk  of 
but  a  few  minutes.  On  my  way  there  I  met  a 
one-legged  ex-convict  who  was  just  leaving 
the  institution.  His  pale  face,  shoddy  suit  of 
clothes  and  light-colored  felt  hat  all  spoke  but 
too  plainly  of  the  fact  that  he  was  very  recently 
"  let  loose,"  Entering  into  conversation  with 
him,  I  found  that  he  had  a  few  moments  before 
completed  a  term  of  five  years  at  hard  labor. 
From  him  I  gathered  a  great  deal  of  impor- 
tant information  as  to  the  treatment  of  the 
prisoners,  of  which  he  had  been  an  eye-witness 
for  five  years.  He  also  gave  me  his  own  his- 
tory. In  a  saloon  brawl,  he  became  involved 
in  a  fight  with  a  drunken  comrade,  half-crazed 


THE  CONVICT'S  HOME  239 

with  drink.  Pistols  were  drawn,  and  shots 
were  exchanged.  He  received  a  bullet  in  his 
thigh,  that  caused  the  amputation  of  his  limb. 
His  antagonist  was  killed.  On  a  trial  for 
murder  he  received  a  sentence  for  man- 
slaughter. Said  he,  "  Whisky  sent  me  to 
prison.  Had  I  not  been  drunk  I  would  never 
have  taken  the  life  of  the  man  whom  I  shot. 
He  had  been,  for  years,  a  good  friend  of  mine. 
I  will  never  take  another  drink  as  long  as  I 
live.  It  has  been  my  ruin."  In  the  conver- 
sation he  informed  me  that  he  had  left  behind 
him,  when  sent  to  prison,  a  wife  and  three 
children.  During  his  confinement  they  had 
to  depend  for  the  most  part  on  their  relatives 
and  public  charity  for  support.  On  account 
of  their  poverty  they  had  not  been  able  to  visit 
him  at  any  time  during  his  imprisonment. 
They  had  continued  to  love  him,  notwith- 
standing his  misfortune;  had  been  true  to  him 
during  his  days  of  bondage;  and  he  was  now 
anxious  to  reach  his  home  to  meet  them.  How 
true  it  is  that  the  blow  which  falls  upon  the 
culprit,  and  which  justice  intends  for  him  alone, 
often  falls  with  equal  force  and  effect  upon 
wife,  child  or  other  helpless  and  dependent 
relative!  I  asked  him  how  he  felt  on  recover 


240  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

ing  his  liberty  after  being   in  prison  for  five 

years. 

"  Oh!  "  said  he,  "  this  is  the  happiest  day  of 
rny  life  thus  far;  I  never  knew  the  blessings 
of  liberty  as  I  do  now.  I  never  saw  the  sun 
shine  so  brightly  before.  Everything  about 
me  seems  so  beautiful.  From  this  time  I  will 
appreciate  more  than  ever  I  have  done,  this 
beautiful  world.  It  almost  pays  a  man  to  be 
penned  up  for  a  time  to  enable  him  to  appre- 
ciate what  there  is  in  the  world  for  him.  Be- 
hind the  walls,  however,  banished  from  the 
presence  of  loved  ones,  it  is  a  veritable  hell. 
I  cannot  find  a  term  that  expresses  my  views 
of  a  prison  life  that  is  more»suitable  than  that 
word — hell.  Those  long,  dreary  days  of 
monotonous  work  —  the  same  thing  must  be 
gone  over,  day  after  day ;  the  food  we  eat, 
the  treatment  to  which  we  are  subjected,  our 
loneliness  and  solitude,  all  combined,  make 
prison  life  almost  unbearable."  "  Do  you 
know,"  I  asked,  "  of  any  prisoners  who  are 
so  satisfied  with  their  condition  as  to  be  willing 
to  remain  in  the  penitentiary,  did  they  have 
an  opportunity  of  obtaining  their  liberty  ? " 
"  There  is  not  a  person  in  that  institution,"  he 
replied,  "  who  would  not  hail  with  joy  his  re- 


THE  CONVICT'S   HOME.  24 J 

lease.  Some  of  them  are  physical  wrecks, 
and  would  have  to  go  to  the  almshouse  to  be 
taken  care  of  in  case  they  should  obtain  their 
freedom,  yet  they  would  prefer  any  place  to 
that  of  a  prison  cell,  deprived  of  their  free- 
dom." After  spending  more  than  an  hour  in 
conversation  with  this  ex-convict,  and  bidding 
him  "  good  bye,"  I  preceded  on  my  journey 
to  the  prison.  As  I  walked  along  thinking  of 
the  poor  ex-convict  I  had  just  passed,  my 
imagination  pictured  for  him  a  rather  gloomy 
future.  He  is  a  cripple,  and  has  a  large 
family  to  support;  he  must  bear  with  him 
along  life's  journey  the  heavy  load  of  disgrace 
that  whisky  placed  upon  him.  An  ex-convict! 
Who  will  give  him  work  to  do?  Who  will  lend 
him  a  helping  hand  in  his  struggle  to  regain  a 
foothold  in  the  outside  world?  After  a  few  vain 
efforts  to  regain  what  he  has  lost,  will  he  not 
yield  to  despair,  as  thousands  have  done  be- 
fore him,  and,  becoming  a  pitiless  wreck, 
pass  on  down  the  current  of  crime  until  he 
drifts  over  Time's  last  precipice  and  drops 
into  the  arms  of  Death  ?  To  the  average  ex- 
convict  there  is  but  little  hope  for  success  in 
this  life. 

The  painful  history  of  a  majority  of  them  is, 

TheTwiaH«ll*i6 


242  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

after  they  have  fallen  into  the  meshes  of  a 
criminal  life,  they  never  have  the  moral  power 
to  extricate  themselves.  My  musings  are  now 
at  an  end,  for  I  have  just  reached  the  entrance 
to  the  penitentiary  —  "  A  Missouri  Hell."  A 
prison  official  on  duty  at  the  entrance  conducted 
me  into  the  presence  of  the  warden,  Hon.  John 
L.  Morrison.  This  genial  gentleman  is  a  res- 
ident of  Howard  County,  where  he  was  born 
and  spent  the  greater  portion  of  his  life.  He 
is  sixty  years  of  age,  and  by  occupation  a 
farmer.  For  four  years  he  was  sheriff  of  his 
county.  He  received  his  appointment  as 
warden  less  than  one  year  ago.  He  is  without 
any  prison  experience.  The  reason,  no  doubt, 
for  his  being  appointed  warden  of  so  great  a 
penal  institution  is,  that  outside  from  his  being 
a  man  of  unimpeachable  integrity,  he  exerts 
no  little  political  influence  in  that  portion  of 
the  State  where  he  resides.  We  have  no  cause 
for  criticising  the  governor's  selection.  Per- 
haps he  is  one  of  the  very  best  men  that  could 
have  been  procured  for  the  place.  At  any 
rate,  he  is  credited  with  starting  out  well.  But 
it  is  not  every  honest,  upright  man  that  makes 
a  good  warden.  It  requires  a  man  with  a 
special  fitness  to  be  a  success  in  handling  pris* 


THE   CONVICTS   HOME.  243 

oners  and  making  a  penal  institution  beneficial 
to  all  interested.  After  Warden  Morrison  has 
been  given  a  fair  trial,  and  it  becomes  evident 
that  he  is  a  successful  prison  man,  he  should 
be  retained  many  years  in  that  responsible 
position.  For  the  longer  he  is  kept  at  the 
head  of  the  institution  the  more  valuable  will 
his  services  be  to  the  State.  I  remained  sev- 
eral days,  and  through  the  kindness  of  the 
warden  and  other  prison  officials,  saw  every- 
thing about  the  institution  that  was  noteworthy. 
The  Missouri  penitentiary  is  located  in  the 
southern  suburbs  of  Jefferson  City.  Its  en- 
trance is  from  the  north.  It  covers  an  area  of 
seventeen  acres.  This  tract  of  ground  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  stone  wall  twenty  feet  high  and 
four  feet  thick.  The  prison  enclosure  is  rectan- 
gular in  form.  At  each  of  the  four  corners, 
and  at  stated  intervals,  towers  arise  eight  feet, 
which  are  occupied  by  officers  on  duty.  Occu- 
pying this  elevated  position,  these  officers  can 
readily  observe  all  that  occurs  within  the  prison 
walls,  outside  the  buildings.  At  stated  times 
the  officers  emerge  from  the  towers  and  walk 
along  on  top  of  the  wall  to  see  if  anything  un- 
usual is  taking  place  about  the  prison.  Loose 
stones  are  piled  on  top  of  portions  of  the  wall 


244  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

that  surrounds  the  prison,  to  prevent  the  cofc 
victs  from  securing  a  fastening  for  ladder  hooks, 
should  they  attempt  to  escape.  A  portion  of  this 
wall  was  erected  fifty-four  years  ago,  the  prison 
having  been  established  in  1836.  Could  these 
towering  stones  speak,  what  scenes  of  misery 
and  wretchedness  they  might  describe!  O, 
ye  rocks,  that  make  up  this  barrier  between 
freedom  and  the  worst  form  of  human  slavery, 
AS  you  have  been  occupying  your  silent  posi- 
tion for  the  past  half  hundred  years,  had  your 
ears  been  unstopped,  what  countless  groans  of 
despair  would  you  have  heard?  Could  your 
eyes  have  opened,  when  first  you  took  your 
place  in  that  prison  wall  fifty  years  ago, 
how  many  indescribable  scenes  of  anguish 
would  you  have  witnessed?  A  heavy  iron 
door  swings  upon  its  creaking  hinges.  Bolts 
fly  back  into  their  sockets.  I  step  into  a 
revolving  iron  cage,  which,  manipulated  by  a 
guard,  turns  half  way  round  on  its  axis,  and  I 
emerge  from  this  into  the  prison  campus — the 
space  surrounded  by  the  walls.  What  wonder- 
ful scenes  now  are  discovered !  Many  of  them, 
indeed,  are  heartrending. 

I  will  describe  what  I   saw  and  make  men- 
tion of  what  I   heard.     There  are   four  large 


THE  CONVICT'S  HOME.  245 

buildings  of  brick  and  stone;  honeycombed 
with  cells  —  the  homes  of  the  prisoners.  The 
cells,  in  one  of  these  buildings,  are  large  and 
commodious,  and  contain  four  criminals.  In 
dimension  they  are  nine  feet  wide  and  thirteen 
feet  long.  The  remainder  of  the  cells  are 
small  and  contain  but  one  man  in  a  cell.  The 
large  cells  are  objectionable,  for  the  reason  that 
the  men,  being  locked  up  together  in  such 
small  rooms,  get  to  talking,  and  often  quarrels 
and  fights  result.  A  number  of  convicts  have 
been  almost  murdered  in  these  larger  cells, 
where  there  were  more  than  one  occupant. 
Again,  if  there  be  three  in  a  cell  who  desire 
to  have  the  fourth  one  removed,  they  combine 
against  him  and  render  his  existence  while  in 
the  cell  unbearable.  They  abuse  him  con- 
stantly. If  he  reports  them  to  the  officer  the 
three  stoutly  deny  all  accusations,  often  bring- 
ing upon  the  innocent  one  punishment  which 
should  have  been  meted  out  to  the  three  guilty 
ones. 

It  requires  but  little  stretch  of  the  imagina- 
tion to  enable  one  to  see  how  miserable  a 
prisoner  may  be  rendered  in  one  of  these  cells 
when  three  occupants  of  the  same  cell  com- 
bine against  him.  The  large  cells  are  a  source 


246  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

of  great  annoyance  to  prison  officials,  and  are 
now,  after  trial,  universally  condemned.  The 
small  cells  are  about  four  feet  wide,  seven  feet 
long,  and  seven  feet  high.  The  doors  are  very 
low,  and  the  prisoner  has  to  stoop  as  he  enters. 
The  low  door  gives  to  the  cell  a  more  gloomy 
appearance  than  it  would  possess  if  the  entrance 
was  higher.  On  going  into  one  of  these  cells 
one  has  the  same  feeling  as  takes  hold  of  him 
when  he  crawls  into  a  low,  dark  hole  in  the 
ground.  The  cells  are  constructed  of  stone, 
with  wooden  floors.  The  cells  of  the  Kansas 
and  other  penitentiaries  are  higher  and  better 
ventilated.  The  furniture  of  the  cell  consists 
of  an  iron  rack,  on  which  is  placed  a  straw  bed 
with  sufficient  covering  to  keep  the  convict 
warm.  There  are  also  a  bucket,  wash-basin 
and  towel.  The  prisoner  washes  himself  in 
the  cell.  He  also  has  a  chair  to  sit  on  and  a 
Holy  Bible  to  read.  This  is  about  all  the  fur- 
niture to  be  found  in  the  cells.  Occasionally  a 
carpet  covers  the  floor,  but  the  prisoner  fur- 
nishes this  out  of  his  own  means.  If  he  has 
no  means  he  has  no  carpet.  I  was  much  sur- 
prised to  learn  that  there  was  no  way  provided 
for  the  convicts  to  take  a  plunge  bath,  and  that 
many  of  them  became  very  filthy  because  of 


THE   CONVICT'S   HOME.  247 

their  not  being  compelled  to  bathe  at  stated 
times.  Other  penitentiaries  are  supplied  with 
bath-houses,  and  once  each  week  the  inmates 
are  required  to  take  a  bath.  This  certainly  is 
conducive  to  good  health.  The  cell-houses 
are  lighted  by  electric  lights,  and  each  cell  is 
provided  with  a  lamp.  Thus  the  prisoner  has 
an  opportunity  of  reading  during  the  even- 
ings, which  is  a  great  blessing,  and  should  be 
highly  appreciated. 

The  prison  is  supplied  with  a  large  library 
of  choice  books  to  which  the  inmates  have 
access.  They  also  are  allowed  to  read  daily 
newspapers,  if  they  have  money  with  which  to 
purchase  them.  The  managing  officials  of  the 
Kansas  penitentiary  are  possessed  of  a  very 
foolish  notion  in  regard  to  the  reading  of  daily 
newspapers.  They  will  not  under  any  circum- 
stances allow  a  prisoner  to  take  his  home 
paper,  or  have  access  to  any  political  daily. 
They  claim  that  it  excites  the  prisoner  and 
makes  his  imprisonment  more  difficult  to 
bear  when  he  knows  what  is  going  on  in  the 
outside  world.  It  seems  that  this  custom 
smacks  of  barbarism,  and  the  prison  directors 
of  the  Kansas  prison  should  discard  it  at  once. 
Imagine  the  condition  of  a  prisoner  who  has 


248  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

been  in  confinement  for  ten  years,  having  no 
access  to  the  daily  or  weekly  newspapers.  He 
would  be  an  ignoramus  of  the  worst  type. 
Our  penal  institutions  should  try  and  improve 
their  prisoners,  instead  of  rendering  them  more 
ignorant  and  debased.  We  are  glad  to  note 
that  the  Missouri  penitentiary  is  in  advance  of 
the  Kansas  prison  in  this  respect.  If  the 
prisoner  can  take  a  little  pleasure  in  reading, 
daily  or  weekly,  what  takes  place  at  his  own 
home,  why  not  give  him  the  privilege,  since  it 
is  evident  that  such  a  permission  will  not  be 
detrimental  to  prison  discipline?  There  are 
school  books  to  be  found  in  the  prison  library, 
and  the  prisoners,  if  they  desire,  can  get  these 
books  and  study  them.  A  great  many  do 
improve  these  opportunities,  and  a  number 
have  made  great  advancement  in  their  studies. 
They  are  also  permitted  to  have  writing 
materials  in  their  cells,  a  privilege  which  is 
considered  very  dangerous,  and  which  but 
few  similar  institutions  grant.  Many  of  the 
convicts  who  could  not  read  or  write  on  enter- 
ing the  prison  make  considerable  progress  in 
these  studies. 

The  Missouri  prison  does  not  go  far  enough 
in  matters  of  education.      It  should  be   pro- 


THB  CONVICT'S  HOME.  249 

vided  with  a  school.  In  this  matter  tne  Kan- 
sas and  Iowa  penitentiaries  are  far  in  advance. 
They  have  regular  graded  schools,  and  many 
convicts  have  acquired  an  education  sufficient 
to  enable  them  to  teach  when  they  went  out 
again  into  the  free  world.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
when  the  Legislature  meets  again  the  mem- 
bers will  see  to  it  that  ample  provision  is  made 
for  a  first-class  school  at  the  prison,  with  a 
corps  of  good  teachers.  The  State  will  lose 
nothing  by  this  movement. 

In  the  Iowa  prison  at  Ft.  Madison  the  con- 
victs are  taught  in  the  evening,  after  the  work 
of  the  day  is  over.  In  the  Kansas  prison,  in- 
struction is  given  Sunday  afternoon.  These 
schools  are  accomplishing  great  good.  The 
chiefobject  of  imprisonment  should  be  reforma- 
tion. Ignorance  and  reformation  do  not 
affiliate.  Some  will  argue  that  if  prisoners  are 
educated  and  treated  so  humanely  they  will 
have  a  desire  to  return  to  the  prison,  in  fact, 
make  it  their  home.  Experience  teaches  us 
that,  treat  a  human  being  as  a  prince,  and 
deprive  him  of  his  liberty,  and  the  greatest 
burden  of  life  is  placed  upon  him,  and  he  is 
rendered  a  pitiable  object  of  abject  misery. 
There  is  no  punishment  to  which  a  human 


250  THE  TWIN    HELLS. 

being  can  be  subjected  which  it  is  possible  to 
endure,  that  is  more  to  be  dreaded  than  con- 
finement. Those  long,  weary,  lonely  hours 
that  the  prisoner  spends  in  his  cell  are  laden 
with  the  greatest  of  all  continuous  sorrows. 
There  is  but  little  danger  of  surfeiting  him 
with  kindness  and  advantages,  so  long  as  he  is 
deprived  of  his  freedom.  If  there  is  any 
hope  for  the  reformation  of  the  vicious  and 
depraved,  no  better  place  can  be  found 
to  commence  that  reformation  than  whild 
he  is  an  inmate  of  the  prison.  While 
there,  he  is  shut  out  from  the  society 
of  his  wicked  companions;  he  is  not  sub- 
jected to  the  same  temptations  in  prison  as 
on  the  outside.  Save  being  deprived  of  his 
freedom,  he  is  placed  in  the  most  favorable 
position  for  reformation  that  it  is  possible  for 
one  to  occupy.  If  he  is  not  reformed  here  it 
is  not  likely  he  ever  will  be.  It  is  to  the 
highest  interest  of  the  State  that  these  oppor- 
tunities should  be  improved.  Every  effort 
should  be  put  forth  to  make  these  men  better 
while  they  are  in  prison.  They  are  worth 
saving.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  one  of 
the  essential  features  in  a  thorough  reforma- 
tion of  a  man,  is  to  drive  away  the  mists  of 


THE   CONVICT'S   HOME.  2$  I 

ignorance  by  which  he  is  surrounded.  Other 
things  being  equal,  he  is  the  better  prepared 
to  wage  successfully  life's  warfare,  who  is  edu- 
cated. He  will  be  better  able  to  resist  the 
temptations  which  he  will  meet  when  his  days 
of  bondage  are  over.  Yes,  by  all  means,  let 
every  prison  have  its  school.  It  is  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  the  prisoner,  likewise 
to  the  State.  As  I  was  passing  through  these 
cell-houses,  reading  the  names  of  the  convicts, 
placed  above  the  cell  door,  I  came  to  one 
which  contained  four  brothers.  Five  brothers 
were  convicted  of  robbery  and  sent  to  the 
prison,  but  a  short  time  ago  one  of  them  was 
pardoned,  and  the  four  now  remain.  The  lib- 
erated one  was  on  a  visit  to  his  brothers  while 
I  was  at  the  prison.  Reader,  is  it  not  a  sad 
thought  that  these  four  young  men,  brothers, 
should  spend  ten  of  the  best  years  of  their 
lives  in  a  prison?  Surely  the  way  of  the  trans- 
gressor is  hard. 

Young  man,  you  who  have  as  yet  never  been 
an  inmate  of  a  prison,  imagine,  if  possible,  the 
loneliness  experienced  as  one  spends  his  days, 
weeks,  months  and  years  behind  these  frown- 
ing prison  walls,  shut  up  the  greatest  portion 
of  the  time  in  these  small  cells  that  I  have  de- 


252  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

scribed  in  this  chapter.  If  you  do  not  wish 
a  life  of  this  nature,  shun  the  company  of 
wicked  and  vicious  associates,  and  strive  with 
all  your  power  to  resist  the  tempter  in  what- 
ever form  he  may  approach  you.  It  is  not 
force  he  employs  to  drag  you  down  to  the 
plane  of  the  convict,  but  he  causes  the  sweet 
song  of  the  syren  to  ring  in  your  ear,  and  in 
this  manner  allures  you  away  from  the  right, 
and  gently  leads  you  down  the  pathway  that 
ends  in  a  felon  cell,  disgrace  and  death. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE    WORK    OF    THE    CONVICT. 

IT  is  a  great  blessing  to  the  convict  that  he 
can  .have  the  privilege  of  working.  When 
prisons  were  first  started  in  this  country  it  was 
thought  best  to  keep  the  prisoner  in  solitary 
confinement ;  have  him  visited  daily  by  a  spir- 
itual teacher,  place  the  Bible  and  other  good 
books  in  his  hands,  and  in  this  manner  reform 
him,  and  send  him  out  into  the  world  a  better 
man  than  he  was  on  entering  the  prison.  The' 
great  penal  institution  of  Auburn,  New  York,' 
was  for  a  time  conducted  in  this  manner.  The 
plan,  at  first  thought  to  be  a  good  one,  had  to 
be  abandoned.  The  criminal  could  not  endure 
solitary  confinement.  He  must  have  work. 
Many  of  them  became  insane,  while  still  others 
died  for  want  of  the  open  air,  out-door  exer- 
cise, and  some  diversion  for  the  mind. 

In  all  the  penitentiaries  of  the  country,  afc 
the  present  time,  convicts  are  required  to  per-' 
form  some  kind  of  useful  labor.  That  is  on* 
point  of  the  prison  question  that  is,  doubtless, 
forever  settled.  All  prison  men  agree  that 


254  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

the  convict  must  perform  some  kind  of  work. 
Labor  to  the  prisoners  means  health  of  body 
and  mind.  Solitary  confinement  means  the 
reverse.  But  what  kind  of  labor  the  prisoner 
should  perform,  and  what  should  be  done  with 
the  results  of  his  labor,  is  one  of  the  most  diffi- 
cult questions  to  decide. 

All  the  prisoners  of  the  Missouri  peniten- 
tiary are  let  out  to  contractors,  with  the 
exception  of  those  needed  to  do  the  work 
about  the  prison.  The  work  consists  chiefly 
of  making  saddle-trees  and  shoes.  Several 
large  three-story  buildings  are  used  in  furnish- 
ing room  for  the  convicts  while  at  labor. 
Those  contractors  who  have  been  at  the  prison 
for  some  time  have  grown  rich.  They  get 
their  men  for  forty-five  cents  a  day,  on  an 
average.  They  have  their  choice  of  prison- 
ers as  they  come  in.  Those  convicts  desig- 
nated scrubs,  do  the  work  for  the  State.  The 
contractors  are  charged  with  controlling  the 
prison.  If  one  of  the  officials,  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duty,  happens  to  do  anything  displeas- 
ing to  the  contractors,  they  combine  against 
him  and  have  him  removed.  They  are  charged 
with  using  their  combined  political  influence, 
and  even  money,  to  carry  their  points.  We 


THE  WORK   OF  THE   CONVICT.          255 

have  been  told  by  some  of  the  leading  men  of 
the  State  that  it  was  a  notorious  fact  that  the 
penitentiary  was  controlled  by  a  political  ring, 
a  set  of  jobbers,  and  this  ring  was  largely 
influenced  by  the  contractors.  The  contract 
system  is  wrong,  and  should  not  have  a  place 
in  any  of  the  penal  institutions  of  the  country. 
The  contractor  assigns  the  task.  The  pris- 
oner must  perform  that  task  or  be  punished. 
If  an  avaricious  contractor,  in  his  desire  to 
make  money,  places  too  great  a  task  upon  the 
prisoner,  who  is  there  to  take  the  prisoner's 
part  and  shield  him  from  abuse?  Fully  nine- 
tenths  of  the  punishments  inflicted  is  the  result 
of  the  reports  and  complaints  of  the  con- 
tractors. See  how  unjust  and  how  hard  this 
contract  system  is  upon  many  of  the  prisoners! 
Two  convicts  enter  the  same  day.  In  outward 
appearance  they  are  strong,  healthy  men. 
The  same  task  is  assigned  them.  One  of  them 
being  adapted  to  that  line  of  work,  and  skilled, 
performs  his  task  with  ease;  while  the  other, 
equally  industrious,  cannot  get  through  with 
his.  He  is  reported  for  shirking.  He  states 
his  inability  to  do  the  amount  of  work  assigned 
him.  The  contractor  or  his  foreman  makes  a 
different  report.  The  assertions  of  the  convict 


2$6  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

amount  to  but  little,  as  against  the  statements 
of  the  rich  and  influential  contractor.  He  is 
punished  and  returned  to  his  work.  A  second 
time  he  tries,  again  fails,  and  is  reported  as 
before.  This  being  the  second  offense  the 
prisoner  is  subjected  to  a  more  severe  punish- 
ment. This  brutal  treatment  is  continued 
until  the  officer,  growing  weary  with  inflicting 
punishment  upon  the  poor  wretch,  concludes 
he  is  unable  to  perform  the  task  assigned  him. 
If  this  contract  system  is  to  continue  in  Mis- 
souri, there  should  be  some  one  whose  duty  it 
is  to  see  that  the  prisoner  is  humanely  treated, 
and  not  let  a  brutal  officer  decide,  who  is  in 
league  with  the  contractors.  I  have  it  from 
the  lips  of  a  prison  official  who  has  been  con- 
nected with  the  prison  for  thirty-six  years,  that 
the  treatment  some  of  the  prisoners  receive 
because  of  the  avariciousness  of  the  con- 
tractors, is  simply  heartrending. 

After  all,  is  not  this  contract  system  a  regu- 
lar jobbing  business?  If  these  men  can  em- 
ploy the  prisoners  and  pay  forty-five  cents  a 
day  for  them,  and  make  money  and  grow 
rich,  why  cannot  the  State  work  the  convicts 
and  save  all  these  profits?  Competent  men 
can  be  secured  as  superintendents  to  carry  on 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  CONVICT.          257 

this  work.  Some  will  say,  that  it  will  open  up 
too  many  avenues  to  jobbery;  that  the  super- 
intendents will  get  to  stealing  from  the  State, 
and  in  the  end  the  State  will  not  get  as  much 
benefit  as  under  the  present  system.  This 
seems  like  begging  the  question.  If  these 
superintendents,  after  a  time,  become  thieves, 
treat  them  as  thieves,  and  give  them  a  term  in 
the  penitentiary.  This  kind  of  medicine  will 
soon  cure  all  cases  of  jobbery.  Again, 
prisoners  should  be  assigned  tasks  according 
to  their  ability.  All  men  are  not  alike  equally 
skilled  in  the  same  kind  of  labor.  All  these 
things  should  be  taken  into  account.  No 
prisoner  should  be  forced  to  carry  a  burden 
that  is  oppressive,  in  order  to  fill  the  coffers 
of  avaricious  contractors.  Again,  I  ask  that 
there  be  some  humane  person,  whose  duty  it 
is  to  see  that  these  helpless  men,  whose  lips 
are  sealed,  are  not  oppressed  by  this  damnable 
contract  system.  Let  us  treat  these  unfortu- 
nate men  humanely,  and  never  forget  that, 
if  stern  justice  was  meted  out  to  those  who 
had  the  control  of  convicts,  as  officers,  guards, 
or  contractors,  many  of  them  would  be  doing 
service  for  the  State,  clad  in  a  suit  of  stripes. 
The  penitentiary  of  Missouri  is  self-support- 

Thc  Twin  Hells  17 


258  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

ing,  with  the  exception  of  the  officer's  pay-roll. 
At  each  session  of  the  Legislature,  an  appro- 
priation of  $140,000  is  made  for  this  purpose. 
There  are  over  one  hundred  officers  on  the  pay- 
roll. The  records  show  that  it  requires  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  annually  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  this  institution. 

Crime  is  an  expensive  luxury! 

During  the  past  two  years  $347,000  have 
been  paid  into  the  treasury  as  the  earnings  of  the 
prison.  The  goods  manufactured  are  sold 
chiefly  in  the  State  of  Missouri.  This  brings 
convict  labor,  which  is  very  cheap,  into  com- 
petition with  the  labor  of  the  poor,  but  honest 
man  on  the  outside.  The  average  labor  value 
of  the  convict  is  forty-five  cents  a  day.  How 
is  it  possible  for  laboring  men  on  the  outside, 
who  have  families  depending  upon  them,  to 
support  themselves  and  families  on  an  amount, 
that  will  enable  business  men,  for  whom  they 
work,  to  engage  in  business  and  compete  with 
this  cheap  convict  labor?  This  is  the  great 
argument  against  convict  labor.  The  convict 
must  be  given  work  or  he  will  become  insane. 
To  bring  this  cheap  labor  into  conflict  with  the 
toil  of  honest  but  poor  men  on  the  outside,  is 
unjust  and  cruel.  What  to  do  with  convic' 


THE  WORK  OF  THE   CONVICT.          259 

labor  is  one  of  the  unsolved  problems.  It  is  a 
subject  that  will  furnish  ample  scope  for  the 
thinking  mind. 

The  prisoner  is  worked  on  an  average  of 
nine  hours  each  day.  He  goes  about  his  labor 
in  silence.  It  is  against  the  regulations  for 
him  to  exchange  a  word  or  a  knowing  glance 
with  a  fellow-workman.  When  visitors  pass 
through  the  workshops  he  is  not  permitted  to 
lift  his  eyes  from  his  work  to  look  at  them. 
An  officer,  perched  upon  a  raised  seat,  who 
commands  a  view  of  the  entire  work-room,  is 
constantly  on  the  watch  to  see  that  no  rule  or 
regulation  is  violated.  The  convict  cannot 
take  a  drink  of  water,  or  go  from  one  part  of 
the  room  to  another  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties  without  permission  from  the  officer. 
The  prisoner  is  always  conscious  of  being 
watched.  This  feeling  is  no  small  factor  in 
making  the  life  of  a  prisoner  almost  unbear- 
able. Nearly  all  of  the  inmates  work  in  shops, 
and  all  the  exercise  they  receive  in  the  open 
air  is  what  they  get  in  going  to  and  from  their 
meals  and  cells.  It  is  this  sameness  of  work, 
this  daily  and  hourly  going  over  the  same 
routine,  this  monotonous  labor,  this  being  sur- 
rounded by  hundreds  of  busy  fellow-workmen, 


160  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

and  not  permitted  to  exchange  a  word  with 
any  of  them,  that  makes  the  life  of  a  prisoner 
to  be  so  much  dreaded.  Young  man,  as  you 
read  these  lines,  it  is  impossible  for  you  to 
conceive  the  misery  that  accompanies  this  kind 
of  a  monotonous  life. 

In  order  to  know  all  that  it  means,  you  must 
pass  through  it,  as  I  have  done.  Things  are 
entirely  different  with  you.  While  you  are  at 
work  on  the  outside  of  prisons,  you  can  carry 
on  conversation  with  those  about  you  and  thus 
pass  the  time  in  a  pleasant  manner.  After  the 
day's  work  is  over,  if  you  so  desire,  you  can 
spend  an  hour  or  so  with  friends.  Not  so  with 
the  criminal.  After  his  day's  work,  done  in 
silence,  is  past,  he  is  locked  up  in  his  solitary 
cell  to  spend  the  evening  as  best  he  can. 

There  is  no  one  to  watch  you  constantly 
while  at  your  daily  toil,  to  see  that  you  do  not 
violate  some  insignificant  rule  or  regulation. 
When  you  desire  a  holiday,  and  wish  to  take 
a  stroll  out  into  the  woods,  to  look  upon  the 
beautiful  flowers  or  admire  nature  in  all  her 
loveliness,  to  inhale  the  pure,  fresh  air — which 
is  a  stranger  to  packed  workshops — to  revel 
in  the  genial  sunlight,  there  is  no  one  to  for- 
bid you.  You  are  a  free  man. 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  CONVICT.          26l 

Oh,  what  a  wonderful  difference  between 
the  laboring  man  who  is  free,  and  him  who  is 
forced  to  work,  clad  in  the  habiliments  of  dis- 
grace! He  who  penned  these  lines  has  had 
to  toil  as  a  convict  in  the  coal  mines  of  the 
Kansas  penitentiary,  eight  hundred  feet  below 
the  surface,  lying  stretched  out  on  his  side, 
and  he  knows  what  he  is  talking  about  when 
he  says,  he  would  rather  die  and  be  laid  away 
in  his  grave  than  to  spend  five  years  as  a 
convict. 

Young  man,  think  of  these  things  when  you 
are  tempted  to  do  those  things  that  will  send 
you  to  a  felon's  cell.  Of  course,  it  is  no 
intention  of  yours  ever  to  become  an  inmate 
of  a  prison.  Permit  one  who  has  had  ex- 
perience, to  tell  you  that  it  is  one  of  the  easiest 
things  in  the  world  to  get  into  a  prison,  and  that 
when  once  in,  it  is  difficult  to  secure  your 
liberty,  until  Time  turns  the  bolt  and  lets  you 
out,  or  in  other  words,  until  you  serve  out 
your  term.  May  you  never  yield  to  a  tempta- 
tion that  will  make  you  a  prisoner. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE   MISSOURI   PRISONERS 

THE  Missouri  penitentiary  contains  1,894 
convicts.  This  is  the  most  populous  penal  in- 
stitution in  the  United  States.  Crime  is  on 
the  increase.  The  number  of  prisoners  is 
gradually  becoming  larger.  Reformation  is  not 
the  success  that  it  should  be.  A  great  many 
of  the  prisoners  return  a  second,  third  and  many 
the  fourth  time.  There  is  one  old  convict  now 
an  inmate  who  has  served  nine  different  terms 
in  this  prison.  The  highest  number  that  was 
ever  at  any  prior  time  in  this  penitentiary;  was 
reached  on  Thanksgiving  Day  of  1889.  In 
1836,  fifty-four  years  ago,  when  this  prison  was 
founded,  there  were  eighteen  prisoners  received 
the  first  day.  During  the  year  one  received  a 
pardon,  leaving  at  the  close  seventeen  pris- 
oners. At  the  close  of  1889  there  were  nine- 
teen hundred  inmates.  As  the  population  of 
Missouri  increases,  she  is  generous  enough  to 
contribute  her  quota  to  the  felon  cells  within 
her  borders.  The  increase  of  from  seventeen 

at  the  close  of  the  first  year  to  that  of  nineteen 
262 


THE    MISSOURI   PRISONERS.  265 

hundred  at  the  close  of  the  last  year,  speaks 
volumes.  What  can  be  done  to  lessen  this 
fearful  increase  of  crime  ?  It  is  true  that  the 
population  of  the  State  has  increased  amazingly 
since  1836,  but  crime  has  increased  too  rap- 
idly in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  population. 
When  a  man,  accused  of  crime,  is  convicted 
and  sentenced  in  any  of  the  courts  of  the  State, 
a  commitment  is  furnished  the  sheriff,  by  the 
clerk  of  the  court.  This  document  is  a  writ- 
ing, giving  the  name  of  the  prisoner,  the  crime 
of  which  he  stands  committed,  and  the  term 
for  which  he  is  sentenced.  It  is  the  authority 
given  the  sheriff  to  convey  to  the  penitentiary 
the  person  named  therein,  and  to  deliver  him 
to  the  warden.  As  soon  as  the  warden  receives 
the  commitment  he  assumes  control  of  the 
prisoner,  and  retains  it  until  his  term  of  service 
expires,  or  is  liberated  by  pardon  or  some 
court  decree.  It  is  curious  to  note  how  differ- 
ently prisoners  act  on  coming  to  the  peniten- 
tiary. Some  of  them  quake  with  fear  and 
tremble  as  the  aspen  leaf.  Others  weep  like 
whipped  children.  While  others  do  not  seem 
to  mind  it  much.  This  latter  class  is  chiefly 
made  up  of  those  who  have  served  terms  be- 
fore, and  have  had  experience.  The  officers 


264  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

try  to  crush  the  spirit  of  the  criminal  the  firs 
day  he  enters.  The  poor  culprit,  already  quak 
ing  with  fear,  is  spoken  to  in  a  cross  and 
harsh  manner,  as  if  he  was  going  to  be  struck 
over  the  head  with  a  club  the  next  moment. 
He  is  locked  up  in  the  reception  cell,  a  low, 
dark  dungeon.  To  use  the  expressive  language 
of  the  prison,  he  is  left  in  this  dungeon  to 
"  soak  "  for  an  indefinite  time,  often  for  a  day 
and  a  night.  In  this  dreaded  spot,  in  his  lone- 
liness and  shame  he  has  an  opportunity  for 
meditation.  I  don't  suppose  there  ever  was  a 
person  who,  in  this  reception  cell  for  the  first 
time,  did  not  heartily  regret  the  commission 
of  his  crime.  Here  he  thinks  of  his  past  life. 
The  days  of  his  innocent  childhood  come  flit- 
ting before  him.  The  faces  of  loved  ones, 
many  of  whom  now  dead,  pass  in  review.  It 
is  here  he  thinks  of  his  loving  mother,  of  his 
kind  old  father,  of  his  weeping  sisters  and  sym- 
pathizing brothers. 

He  travels,  time  and  again,  the  road  of  his 
past  life.  In  his  reveries  of  solitude  he  sits 
once  more  in  the  old  school-house  of  his  boy- 
hood days.  It  comes  to  him,  now  with 
greater  force  than  ever  before,  what  he  might 
have  been,  had  he  taken  a  different  course, 


THE  MISSOURI  PRISONERS  265 

Alas!  it  is  too  late.  He  is  forever  disgraced. 
There  is  but  little  hope  for  him  now  in  the 
future.  Reader,  behold  this  unfortunate 
youth  as  he  sits  in  his  lonely  dungeon,  his 
first  day  in  the  penitentiary.  On  a  low  chair, 
his  elbows  resting  on  his  knees,  his  face 
buried  in  his  hands,  he  sits  and  tries  to 
imagine  what  is  in  store  for  him.  He  endeav- 
ors to  peer  into  the  future,  and  all  is  gloom. 
That  sweet  angel  we  call  Hope,  has  spread  her 
wings,  taken  her  flight  and  left  him  comfort- 
less. The  cloud  of  despair,  black  as  the 
Egyptian  midnight,  settles  down  upon  him. 
He  wishes  that  he  was  dead.  I  can  never 
forget  my  first  day  in  a  felon's  cell.  Of  all 
my  eventful  life,  into  which  many  dark  days 
have  crowded  themselves,  my  first  day  in 
prison  was  the  darkest.  After  the  "  soaking 
season  "  is  over,  an  officer  advances  to  the 
dungeon,  throws  back  the  bolts,  pulls  open 
the  door,  and,  in  a  harsh  manner,  commands 
the  broken-hearted  culprit  to  follow.  He  is 
conducted  to  an  apartment,  takes  a  bath,  and 
dons  the  suit  of  stripes.  Ye  angels!  did  you 
ever  behold  such  a  sight?  Is  it  not  a  travesty 
on  every  thing  that  is  good  to  dress  a  human 
being  in  such  a  suit  of  clothes.  A  striped 


266  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

coat,  striped  pataloons,  striped  shirt,  striped 
cap,  in  fine  everything  he  wears  is  striped. 
There  is  nothing  in  this  world  so  humiliates  a 
person  as  being  compelled  to  wear  these 
stripes.  No  language  can  describe  the  feel- 
ings of  horror  that  took  hold  upon  me  the 
first  time  I  saw  myself  arrayed  in  these 
emblems  of  disgrace.  I  passed  through  all 
the  fiery  ordeal  of  trial,  sentence,  reception 
cell,  undaunted,  but  when  I  made  my  first 
toilet  in  the  penitentiary,  I  must  admit,  I  was 
"  knocked  out."  Then  I  felt  keenly  the  sting 
of  disgrace.  The  prisoner  is  next  introduced  to 
a  convict  barber,  who  shaves  him  and  "  clips" 
his  hair.  By  the  time  the  barber  gets  through 
with  his  part  of  the  programme,  the  prisoner 
has  but  little  hair  either  on  his  face  or  head. 
The  prison  physician  examines  him  and  it  is  de- 
cided where  he  is  to  work.  He  is  next  shown 
the  cell  he  is  to  occupy,  and  later  on  his  place 
of  work.  Over  his  cell  is  placed  his  name  and 
number.  He  now  enters  upon  that  indescrib- 
able, desolate,  and  dreary  life  of  a  convict. 

THE  TREATMENT  OF  THE  PRISONERS. 
The  inmates  of  the  Missouri  penitentiary  are 
well  clothed      In  this  respect,  this  prison  has 


THE   MISSOURI  PRISONERS.  267 

no  rival.  All  the  prisoners  presented  the 
appearance  of  being  cleanly,  so  far  as  their 
clothing  is  concerned.  All  are  dressed  in 
stripes.  None  are  exempt.  Here  are  nearly 
two  thousand  men  on  an  equality.  None  of 
them  can  look  down  upon  others,  and  say,  I  am 
more  nicely  dressed  than  you.  I  never  saw  a 
convict  dude  in  the  entire  lot.  The  prisoners 
are  well  fed.  For  breakfast,  the  bill  of  fare 
consists  of  bread,  coffee,  without  milk  or  sugar, 
and  hash.  There  is  no  change  of  this  bill  of 
fare.  If  the  prisoner  has  been  there  for  ten 
years,  if  not  in  the  hospital,  he  has  feasted  upon 
hash  every  morning.  Boiled  meat,  corn  bread, 
potatoes  and  water  make  up  the  dinner,  and 
for  supper  the  convict  has  bread,  molasses  and 
coffee.  The  principal  objection  to  this  diet  is 
its  monotony.  Whenever  a  change  of  diet 
becomes  a  strict  necessity,  the  prisoner  is  per- 
mitted to  take  a  few  meals  in  the  hospital 
dining-room.  Here  he  receives  a  first-class 
meal.  This  is  a  capital  idea.  A  great  deal  of 
sickness  is  prevented  by  thus  permitting  the 
convict  to  have  an  occasional  change  of  diet. 
On  holidays,  such  as  Thanksgiving  day,  Christ* 
mas,  etc.,  an  extra  dinner  is  given,  which  is 
keenly  relished  by  all.  I  have  before  me  a 


268  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

statement  of  the  expenses  for  a  Sunday  break- 
fast and  dinner.  There  are  only  two  meals 
given  on  Sunday.  The  hash  was  made  up  of 
612  pounds  of  beef,  90  pounds  of  bacon,  and 
30  bushels  of  potatoes.  Fifty-one  pounds  of 
coffee  were  used,  and  four  and  a  half  barrels 
of  flour.  The  entire  meal  cost  $68.38. 

For  dinner,  1,585  pounds  of  beef,  30  bushels 
of  potatoes,  and  4^  barrels  of  flour,  weir 
used.  This  meal  cost  $100.6 1.  It  costs  about 
ten  cents  each  a  day  to  feed  the  prisoners. 
Some  of  the  convicts,  after  they  get  their  daily 
tasks  performed,  do  overwork.  The  contract- 
ors pay  them  small  sums  for  this  extra  labor. 
With  this  money  the  convict  is  permitted  to 
purchase  apples  from  the  commissary  depart- 
ment, which  he  can  take  to  his  cell  and  eat  at 
his  leisure.  The  commissary  keeps  these 
apples  on  hand  at  all  times  in  packages,  which 
he  sells  to  the  prisoners  at  twenty  cents  each. 
In  prison,  apples  are  the  most  healthful  diet 
the  inmate  can  have.  Should  friends  on  the 
outside  desire  to  send  delicacies  to  any  of  the 
prisoners,  they  are  permitted  to  receive  the 
same,  and,  taking  them  to  their  cells,  eat  at 
their  leisure.  These  luxuries  are  highly  appre- 
ciated by  the  men  in  stripes,  whose  daily  food 


/HE  MISSOURI  PRISONER?  ^69 

is  largely  made  up  of  hash  and  corn  bread. 
The  female  prisoners  must  subsist  on  the  same 
kind  of  food  as  the  males.  In  some  penal  in- 
stitutions, Kansas  for  example,  the  women 
have  better  diet  than  is  furnished  the  men. 
Not  so  in  this  penitentiary.  All  are  treated 
alike,  so  far  as  food  is  concerned. 

Three  times  each  day  the  men  march  into 
the  large  dining-hall,  which  accommodates 
1,500,  and  partake  of  their  meals.  The  table- 
ware is  of  tin  and  somewhat  meager.  The 
tables  themselves  present  the  appearance  of 
the  modern  school-desk,  being  long  enough 
that  twenty  men  may  be  comfortably  seated 
at  each.  No  table-linen  is  used.  When  eat- 
ing, the  convict  is  not  permitted  to  call  for  any- 
thing he  may  wish.  When  a  dish  is  empty  it 
is  held  aloft,  and  an  officer  or  a  convict  waiter 
replenishes  it.  Ample  time  is  given  to  eat. 
All  have  a  sufficiency  of  food  such  as  it  is. 
Every  thing  is  clean,  After  the  meal  is  over, 
the  prisoners,  in  ranks,  return  to  their  work- 
shops, or  to  their  cells  in  case  it  is  the  last 
meal  of  the  day.  It  is  a  very  interesting  sight 
to  witness  1,500  convicts  eating  at  the  same 
time. 

The  officials  are  to  be  commended  for  the 


2/O  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

following  privileges  they  grant  the  prisoners: 
On  all  holidays,  such  as  Fourth  of  July,  Christ- 
mas, etc.,  they  are  let  out  of  their  cells  into  a 
large  open  square,  inside  the  prison  walls,  and 
are  allowed  to  converse  with  each  other,  and 
are  given  full  liberty  to  do  as  they  wish. 
These  are  days  of  freedom.  Officers,  of 
course,  are  among  them  to  see  that  no  fight- 
ing occurs,  and  also  to  prevent  any  from 
effecting  their  escape  by  scaling  the  walls. 
The  prisoners  do  certainly  enjoy  these  times. 
They  shake  hands  with  each  other,  run  about, 
shout,  leap  for  joy,  and  have  more  real  happi- 
ness than  a  lot  of  school-boys  who  have  been 
shut  up  in  a  room  all  day  at  their  studies  and 
are  in  the  evening  turned  out  for  play.  The 
men  are  very  careful  not  to  abuse  this  privi- 
lege which  they  prize  very  highly.  There 
never  have  been  any  disturbances,  nor  fights, 
nor  attempts  at  escape  during  these  holidays. 
These  privileges  granted  the  prisoners  demon- 
strate the  humaneness  of  the  prison  officials. 
The  question  often  arises,  why  is  it  there  are 
no  more  riots  and  insurrections  in  this  prison. 
Here  are  nearly  two  thousand  men  huddled  up 
together.  They  are  prisoners,  suffering  the 
worst  kind  of  bondage.  Why  is  it  they  do 


THE  MISSOURI   PRISONERS.  271 

not  make  a  rush  for  liberty  whenever  an  oppor- 
tunity presents  itself?  Many  of  them  are  in 
for  life,  and  may  never  again  see  beyond  then 
prison  walls.  Why  are  they  so  docile?  These 
questions  can  be  easily  answered.  Many  of 
the  men  are  short-time  prisoners,  having  from 
one  to  three  years,  and  cannot  afford  to  get' 
into  trouble,  as  their  time  is  short.  Added  to 
this,  if  the  prisoner  behaves  himself,  and 
obtains  a  good  prison  record,  he  obtains  a 
pardon  and  restoration  to  citizenship  when 
three-fourths  of  his  time  has  expired.  If  a 
man  is  sent  for  ten  years,  by  good  conduct  he 
will  be  pardoned  at  the  end  of  seven  and  a 
half  years.  This  is  a  great  inducement  to 
good  behavior.  The  reason  the  life-men  cause 
but  little,  if  any,  disturbance  in  the  prison  is, 
that  they  all  have  a  hope  sometime  or  other  of 
receiving  a  pardon,  and  they  know  very  well 
that,  if  they  do  not  have  a  good  prison  record, 
they  can  never  obtain  a  pardon.  A  custom 
also  prevails  at  the  prison  that  has  much  to  do 
in  causing  the  long-time  men  to  behave  them- 
selves, and  be  obedient  to  the  regulations  of 
the  institution.  Every  Fourth  of  July  and 
Christmas  the  governor  of  the  State  grants 
pardons  to  two  long-time  men,  so  there  are 


272  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

four  chances  annually  for  a  man  to  obtain  his 
freedom.  Before  the  governor  will  pardon 
one  of  these  men,  he  must  be  satisfied,  among 
other  things,  that  the  convict  has  a  good  prison 
record. 

Any  one  can  readily  see  that  this  is  a  great 
inducement  for  the  prisoner  to  behave  himself. 
Missouri  is  the  only  State,  so  far  as  my  knowl- 
edge extends,  that  has  this  custom.  It  should 
become,  not  only  a  custom,  but  a  law,  in  every 
State.  It  is  founded  on  good  sense. 

THE  PRISONER'S  SENTENCE. 

I  believe  in  capital  punishment.  When  a 
man  falls  so  low  as  maliciously,  willfully  and 
premeditatedly,  to  take  the  life  of  a  human 
being,  he  should  be  hung  by  the  neck  until  he 
is  dead.  Before  it  is  just  to  impose  such  a 
sentence  as  this  upon  a  human  being  he  should 
have  a  fair  and  impartial  trial,  which  many 
persons  charged  with  crime  do  not  get.  If 
poor  and  unable  to  employ  the  best  legal  talent, 
the  court  should  see  that  it  is  furnished.  Too 
often  is  it  the  case  when  a  poor  man,  charged 
with  crime,  makes  affidavit  that  he  is  unable 
to  procure  counsel,  that  some  young  and  inex- 
perienced attorney  is  selected,  in  order  to  give 


THE  MISSOURI  PRISONERS.  2?$ 

him  a  start  in  practice.  The  consequence  of 
this  inexperience  is  that  the  man  charged  with 
crime  has  to  suffer  for  his  lawyer's  inability  to 
secure  for  him  his  rights.  After  the  jury  has 
brought  in  a  verdict  of  guilty  he  should  have 
the  privilege  of  taking  his  case  to  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  have  it  reviewed  by  that  tribunal  at 
the  expense  of  the  State.  No  human  being 
should  be  hung  on  circumstantial  evidence, 
unsupported  by  positive  testimony.  If  the 
judgment  below  is  confirmed,  then  let  the 
murderer  be  kept  in  close  confinement  in  the 
penitentiary  for  one  year,  and,  if  during  that 
time  no  new  evidence  or  mitigating  circum- 
stances arise  let  him  be  hung  by  the  neck 
until  he  is  dead. 

Let  the  execution  take  place  in  the  prison, 
let  it  be  private  and  witnessed  by  but  few  per- 
sons, designated  by  the  executive  of  the  State. 
It  is  better  for  the  criminal  to  be  hung  than  to 
be  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  life.  While 
serving  out  a  lifetime  sentence  he  suffers  ten 
thousand  deaths.  Those  States  where  the 
death  penalty  is  inflicted  have  the  least  num- 
ber of  brutal  murders,  in  proportion  to  their 
population.  The  dread  of  death  is  a  better 
protection  to  society  than  a  life  of  imprison- 

Tl»  Twin  Hells  18 


274  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

ment.  The  fiend  with  murder  in  his  heart 
thinks  "  while  there  is  life,  hope  remains, "and 
if  he  is  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  life  he  may 
get  a  pardon  after  a  time.  But  if  he  is  aware 
of  the  fact  that  if  he  strikes  the  fatal  blow  he 
must  atone  for  his  crime  on  the  gallows,  he  is 
more  liable  to  think  twice  before  striking  his 
innocent  victim  once.  There  should  be  no 
such  a  thing  as  a  life  sentence.  No  criminal 
should  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary  fo*  a  term 
longer  than  fifteen  years.  The  suffering  he 
endures  during  this  long  sentence  is  enough  to 
atone  for  any  crime  he  may  commit  aside  from 
a  brutal  murder,  and  for  this  he  should  be 
hung.  Fifteen  years  of  imprisonment  is  suf- 
ficient to  break  down  almost  any  constitution. 
Having  spent  this  length  of  time  behind  prison 
walls  a  man  is  a  physical  wreck,  and,  having 
atoned  for  his  crime,  let  him  have  the  last  days 
of  life  in  the  world  of  freedom.  The  greatest 
desire  of  a  life  man  in  our  penitentiaries  is  to 
die  outside  of  prison  walls.  No  criminal 
should  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  less  than 
five  years.  After  giving  him  one  fourth  off 
for  good  behavior,  he  has  but  little  more  than 
three  years  of  actual  service.  This  will  give 
Km  plenty  of  time  to  learn  a  trade,  so  that 


THE  MISSOURI   PRISONERS.  2/5 

when  he  goes  out  of  prison  he  can  make  a  liv- 
ing for  himself  and  for  those  depending  upon 
him.  For  crimes  that  require  lighter  sentences 
of  imprisonment  let  jails  or  reformatories  be 
brought  into  requistion.  In  the  eyes  of  the 
world  a  jail  sentence  is  not  so  disgraceful  as 
one  in  the  penitentiary. 

The  plumage  of  a  jail-bird  is  not  so  black  as 
that  of  a  penitentiary  bird.  The  disgrace  of 
being  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  one  year  is 
as  great  as  being  sent  for  five  or  ten  years. 
Whether  he  goes  for  one  or  five  years,  for  all 
the  future  he  is  set  down  as  an  ex-convict. 
People  do  not  stop  to  inquire  as  to  the  length 
of  his  sentence.  The  main  question  is:  Was 
he  in  the  penitentiary?  •  If  so,  he  wears  the 
mark  of  Cain  —  the  stamp  of  disgrace.  Not 
so,  if  he  simply  has  been  in  jail.  There  are  a 
great  many  young  men,  while  surrounded  by 
bad  company,  yield  to  temptation  and  commit 
crime.  A  dose  of  jail  service  will  do  them  as 
much  good  as  a  year  in  the  penitentiary. 
After  they  get  out  they  do  not  feel  the  dis- 
grace so  keenly,  and  there  is  some  hope  for 
their  reformation.  Send  them  to  the  peniten- 
tiary and  it  will  be  a  miracle  if  they  ever 
amount  to  anything  in  the  future.  If  a  jail 


2j6  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

sentence  of  a  year  does  not  reform  a  young, 
criminal,  or  a  man  of  older  years,  who  has 
committed  his  first  offense,  then  give  a  term  in 
the  penitentiary  for  five  years  for  the  second 
offense.  It  is  too  true  that  a  sentence  to  the 
penitentiary  for  a  first  term  is  the  irretriev- 
able ruin  of  the  young  offender.  This'becomes 
an  obstacle  which,  during  all  the  future,  he 
cannot  surmount.  This  plan  being  adopted, 
let  everything  be  done  to  reform  the  youthful 
offender  while  in  jail.  It  is  much  easier  to 
carry  forward  the  work  of  reformation  in  a  jail 
or  reformatory  than  in  a  penitentiary. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
THE  MISSOURI    PRISONERS — (Continued.) 

DURING  the  years  1887  and  1888,  1,523 
prisoners  were  received  into  the  Missouri  pen- 
itentiary. Of  this  number  1 ,082  were  white 
males,  398  colored  males,  17  white  females, 
and  26  colored  females.  These  figures  show 
that  the  women  of  Missouri  are  a  great  deal 
better  than  the  men,  or  they  do  not  get  their 
share  of  justice. 

TABLE  SHOWING  THE  AGES  OF  CONVICTS  RE- 
CEIVED  DURING  THE  YEARS  1887  AND  1888. 

from  16  to  20 320 

20  to  25 441 

25  1030 344 

3°  to  35 H3 

35  1040 113 

40  1045 70 

45  t°5° 34 

50  toss...., 31 

55  to6o 15 

6oto6s 5 

65  1070 4 

70  and  upward. ,„ ,. 3 

Total 1,523 


2/8  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

There  is  nothing  that  should  interest  the 
good  people  of  Missouri  more  than  the  fore- 
going table.  These  appalling  figures  I  copied 
from  the  prison  records.  Of  the  1,523  crimi- 
nals received  during  the  past  two  years,  more 
than  one-fifth  of  them  were  mere  children. 
Would  it  not  be  better  to  give  these  boys  a 
term  in  the  county  jails,  or  in  some  reformatory, 
instead  of  sending  them  to  a  penitentiary  ? 
Coming  in  contact  with  hardened  and  vicious 
criminals,  what  hope  is  there  for  getting  these 
boys  into  the  paths  of  honesty  and  upright- 
ness ?  Then  there  follows  the  large  number 
of  441,  representing  the  youthful  age  from 
twenty  to  twenty-five  years.  These  are  the 
years  most  prolific  of  criminals.  Who  can  say 
these  boys  are  vicious  and  hardened  criminals? 
Then  follow  the  young  men  of  from  twenty- 
five  to  thirty.  Three  hundred  and  fourty-four 
of  this  age  find  a  home  in  felon  cells.  Are 
these  boys  and  young  men  not  worth  saving  ? 
What  can  be  done  to  snatch  them  from  a  ca- 
reer of  crime,  and  to  save  them  from  becoming 
miserable  wrecks  ?  Father,  if  one  of  these 
boys  was  a  son  of  yours,  you  would  think  seri- 
ously over  this  important  question. 

Something  should  be  done  to  save  this*  large 


THE  MISSOURI  PRISONERS.  279 

army  of  youth  who  are  annually  rinding  their 
way  into  felon  cells. 

Is  the  penitentiary  the  proper  place  to  send 
those  youthful  offenders  ?  If  so,  then  they 
should  not  come  in  contact  with  the  older  and 
hardened  criminals.  One  of  the  most  essen- 
tial things  to  be  done  in  a  prison  is  the  classi- 
fication of  the  inmates.  This  is  not  done  in 
the  Missouri  penitentiary.  Here  the  mere 
youth  often  cells  with  a  hardened  old  criminal 
of  the  worst  description.  I  would  rather  a 
child  of  mine  would  be  boxed  up  with  a  rattle- 
snake. In  this  institution  there  are  nearly 
2,000  criminals  huddled  up  together  —  an  in- 
discriminate mass.  The  officials  are  not  to 
blame  for  this.  They  realize  the  terrible  con- 
dition of  things  at  the  prison.  They  have 
not  sufficient  room  for  the  classification  and 
proper  arrangement  of  the  inmates.  They 
know,  perhaps  better  than  anyone  else, 
that  the  prison  is  not  what  it  should  be. 
Warden  Marmaduke  says,  in  his  last  report  to 
the  prison  directors,  "  This  prison  is  now  too 
much  crowded  and  it  becomes  a  serious  ques- 
tion at  once,  as  to  what  disposition  will  bi. 
made  of  them  in  the  future.  If  this  prison  is 
to  accommodate  them,  another  cell  building 


28O  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

should  be  built  at  once.  If  another  prison  is 
to  be  the  solution,  it  should  be  commenced. 
If  a  reconstruction  of  our  criminal  laws,  look- 
ing to  the  reduction  of  crime,  it  should  be 
done  now.  And  in  any  event,  and  whatever 
may  be  done,  certainly  our  management  of 
prisons  should  be  so  modified  or  changed 
that  tke  practical,  not  the  sentimental  system 
of  reform,  should  be  adopted.  I  believe  that 
our  present  system  is  making  criminals  instead 
of  reforming  them,  and  I  believe  that  it  is 
practicable  to  so  classify,  treat,  feed,  work  and 
uniform  these  people,  as  to  make  better  men 
instead  of  worse  men  out  of  them.  I  have 
profound  respect  for  the  good  purposes  of  the 
benevolently  disposed  men  and  women,  and 
they  are  numerous,  who  are  devoting  them- 
selves to  the  effort  of  reforming  criminals.  Yet 
their  efforts  must  be  supplemented  by  a  practi- 
cal building  up  and  the  development  of  the  bet- 
ter instincts  of  the  man,  which  cannot  be  done 
under  our  present  system.  The  surroundings 
are  against  it.  We  are  constantly  devel- 
oping and  stimulating  the  very  ivorst  instincts. 
I  believe  it  practicable  to  institute  methods 
for  this  reform,  at  once  creditable  to  the 
State."  Who  can  doubt  our  statements  on 


THE  MISSOURI  FRISONERS.  28 1 

this  subject  when  we  quote  such  high  authority 
as  the  above.  The  last  harden  of  this  £reat 
institution  comes  out  and  officially  announces 
that  awful  fact  that  our  present  system  of 
prison  treatment  is  constantly  developing  and 
stimulating  the  very  zvorst  instincts.  Con- 
stantly making  men  worse,  and  when  a  young 
man  enters  the  prison  he  is  morally  tainted, 
when  he  goes  out  he  is  completely  saturated, 
with  moral  pollution.  After  such  statements 
from  so  high  an  authority  will  the  great  State 
of  Missouri,  so  well-known  the  world  over  for 
her  numerous  acts  of  benevolence,  continue  to 
have  an  institution  within  her  borders  for  the 
complete  demoralization  and  ruin  of  multitudes 
of  her  young  men.  Should  a  youth  of  Missouri, 
surrounded  by  influences  and  temptations 
which  he  could  not  resist,  once  fall  from  a 
position  of  honor  and  integrity,  although  it  is 
his  first  violation  of  the  law,  he  will  be  taken 
into  custody  of  the  State,  hurled  into  a  pit, 
where  for  a  time  he  will  inhale  the  fetid  breath 
of  wickedness,  then,  later  on,  to  be  released 
and  sent  out  into  the  free  world  a  moral 
leper. 

The  State  should  not  provide  this  machine 
for  the  moral  destruction  of  her 


282  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

youth.  If  this  be  the  real  and  true  condition 
of  affairs,  what  can  be  done  to  change  them? 
I  would  suggest  the  erection,  at  once,  of  a  re- 
formatory. Classify  the  prisoners.  Let  those 
who  are  in  for  the  first  offense  be  separated 
from  those  who  are  professional  and  debased 
criminals.  Give  these  youthful  offenders  the 
benefit  of  schools,  connected  with  the  reform- 
atory. Let  them  have  moral  instruction,  and 
many  of  these  young  men  will  be  reclaimed. 
However  well  a  criminal  is  treated,  when  behind 
prison  walls,  however  good  the  advantages 
granted  him,  all  this  will  avail  but  little,  if 
some  provision  is  not  made  to  aid  him  when  he 
leaves  the  prison.  Many  prisoners,  at  the 
time  of  their  discharge,  may  be,  in  heart,  as 
pure  as  angels,  and  resolve  to  lead  good  lives, 
yet  they  are  convicts,  and  carry  out  with  them 
the  shame  and  disgrace  of  such  a  life.  They 
must  live  even  if  they  are  disgraced.  They  must 
have  work.  Who  will  employ  a  convict? 
Should  a  man,  just  from  the  prison,  come  to 
you  and  frankly  inform  you  that  he  was  recently 
discharged  from  a  felon's  cell,  that  he  had  been 
convicted  of  horse-stealing,  for  instance,  and 
wanted  employment  with  you  on  the  farm,  how 
many  of  you,  my  readers,  would  give  him 


THE  MISSOURI  PRISONERS.  283 

work?  You  would  be  afraid  of  him.  You 
would  decline  his  services,  and  who  could 
blame  you?  But  the  convict  must  live,  and  it 
is  easily  seen,  how,  that  after  applying  to  sev- 
eral for  work  and  being  refused  each  time  on 
account  of  his  past  trouble,  he  would,  after  a 
time,  become  discouraged  and  return  to  a  life 
of  a  criminal.  Hunger  drives  him  to  deeds  of 
desperation,  and  more  especially  is  this  the 
case  if  he  have  a  wife  or  helpless  children  de- 
pending upon  him.  On  his  discharge  from  the 
prison  the  State  presents  him  with  a  shoddy 
suit  of  clothes  (very  cheap),  buys  him  a  ticket 
for  the  town  from  which  he  came,  and  then  lets 
him  shift  for  himself.  Disgraced,  penniless, 
friendless,  helpless,  how  is  it  possible  for  anyone 
of  them  ever  to  secure  another  foothold  in  life. 
Something  should  be  done,  to  help  these 
men  to  secure  work  for  a  time  after  their 
discharge  from  prison.  This  would  prevent  a 
vast  majority  of  criminals  from  returning  to 
the  prison  after  their  first  term.  That  my 
views  on  this  subject  may  not  be  considered 
visionary,  and  that  I  may  not  be  regarded  as 
standing  alone  in  my  suggestions,  I  will  give 
a  portion  of  the  report  of  Rev.  J.  Gierlow,  ex- 
chaplain  of  the  Missouri  penitentiary 


284  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

"  The  increase  of  crime  is  necessarily  attract- 
ing the  attention  of  all  thinking  people,  and 
there  is  abundant  evidence  that  crime-causes 
are  increasing,  for  which  there  seems  to  be  no 
adequate  prevention.  It  has  been  said,  that 
nearly  all  crime  originates  in  the  saloon,  but 
this  statement  requires  discrimination.  Very 
few  professional  thieves  are  inebriates.  That 
class  of  criminals  are  sober  men,  they  could 
not  ply  their  trade  without  a  clear  head,  nor 
do  they  go  with  those  who  drink,  for  they  talk 
too  much.  No,  intemperance  to  a  considera- 
ble extent,  is  only  a  secondary  cause  of  crime 
which  must  be  reached  by  well-ordered,  sani- 
tary, hygienic  and  educational  measures. 
Diseased  bodies  and  unbalanced  minds  are 
largely  characteristic  of  criminals;  and  these 
are  two  factors  in  producing  crime. 

"  There  is  a  numerous  class  in  whom  crime 
seems  to  be  hereditary,  a  taint  in  the  blood. 
In  the  same  family  there  are  generations  of 
criminals.  Prison  life  adds  another  large  sec- 
tion to  the  criminal  class.  By  the  congregate 
system  the  prison  becomes  a  school  of  crime, 
where  the  young  offender  is  both  demoralized 
by  contact  with  hardened  criminals,  and  initi- 
ated into  the  mysteries  ef  professional  villainy. 


THE  MISSOURI   PRISONERS  285 

It  is  a  question  whether  detention  in  prison, 
without  remedial  influences,  is  not  more  of  a 
loss  than  a  gain.  The  critical  time  of  a  pris- 
oner, desirous  of  building  up  a  new  life,  is  when 
he  crosses  the  threshold  of  the  prison  and  goes 
out  into  the  world.  He  is  met  with  distrust 
wherever  his  past. is  known.  He  is  in  con- 
stant terror  of  exposure  if  he  tries  to  keep  it 
secret.  And  what  does  the  State  do  to  put 
him  on  his  feet  or  to  give  him  a  chance  ?  It 
gives  him  a  few  dollars  to  carry  him  here  or 
there,  and  bids  him  shift  for  himself.  And 
finding  every  avenue  of  honest  employment 
closed  against  him,  he  is  driven  in  desperation, 
however  well  disposed  he  may  be,  to  renew 
his  criminal  habits  and  associates.  What,  then, 
are  the  remedies,  as  far  as  the  prison  system  is 
concerned  ?  Chiefly,  classification.  Let  not 
one  who  desires  to  reform  be  compelled  to 
associate  with  those  who  are  almost  sure  to  de- 
grade and  debase  him.  The  neglect  of  dis- 
criminating classification  of  offenders  is  a  dark 
stain  upon  civilization.  Then,  again,  I  believe 
it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  State  to  reinstate  the 
penitentiary  man  in  society.  This  may  be 
secured  by  a  conditional  discharge,  the  finding 
of  work  for  him,  and  the  obligation  to  report 


286 


THE   TWIN   HELLS. 


himself  at  stated  periods  to  the    proper  au- 
thority. 

"  I  have  regarded  it  as  within  the  province  of 
my  office  to  thus  briefly  set  forth  what  I  have 
gathered  from  experience  in  my  intercourse 
with  convicts,  as  well  as  from  sober  conviction, 
after  mature  deliberation.  Let  the  State  con- 
sider and  act.' 

TABLE  SHOWING  SENTENCES  OF  CONVICTS  DUR- 
ING THE  YEARS  1887  AND  1888. 


Years. 

Mos. 

No. 

Years. 

Mos. 

No. 

2 

1  1 

-^ 

I 

14 

12 

3 

i 

6 

I 

1-7 

2 

74  1 

14 

j 

I 

2 

| 

1C 

18 

2 

2 

8 

§ 

20 

IO 

3 

21 

2 

7 

6 

"o 

22 

I 

4 

86 

2C 

17 

4 

4 

i 

3° 

2 

4 

6 

i 

164 

|g 

2 

12 

4.8 

I 

7 

21 

CQ 

2 

8 

6 

4 

IO 

72 

Life 

4 

Total.... 

I  have  here  inserted  the  foregoing  table  to 
the  reader  about  how  the  sentences  are. 


THE  MISSOURI  PRISONERS.  287 

It  will  be  observed  that  of  the  one  thousand 
five  hundred  and  twenty-three  prisoners  ad- 
mitted during  the  past  two  years,  seven  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  of  them,  or  nearly  one- 
half,  have  but  a  two-years'  sentence.  This 
shows  that  the  crimes  committed  were  not 
very  "  horrible  in  their  nature,"  or  the  sen- 
tences imposed  would  have  been  more  severe. 
This  is  probably  the  first  offense  for  these 
offenders.  By  good  conduct  in  the  prison 
one-fourth  of  their  time  will  be  deducted. 
This  will  give  them  but  eighteen  months  of 
actual  service.  What  can  they  accomplish  in 
so  short  a  time?  The  contractors  care  but 
little  for  them,  since  their  time  will  expire 
before  they  can  master  a  trade  and  be  of  any 
service.  Had  these  youthful  offenders  been 
given  a  term  in  a  county  jail  or  reformatory, 
would  not  justice  been  satisfied,  and  there 
would  have  been  more  hope  for  the  prisoner 
as  to  the  future.  He  would  not  have  been  a 
penitentiary  convict,  I  hope  soon  to  see  the 
day  when  the  great  State  of  Missouri  will  have 
a  reformatory  institution  which  will  receive  the 
wayward  youth  of  that  great  commonwealth, 
and,  after  keeping  and  training  them  for  a 
time,  will  send  them  out  into  the  world 


288  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

stronger  and  better  men  than  when  first 
received.  So  far  as  reformation  is  concerned, 
the  Missouri  penitentiary  is  a  dismal  failure. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

PRISON    DISCIPLINE. 

THE  Missouri  penitentiary  ranks  among  the 
leading  penal  institutions  of  the  country  in 
matter  of  discipline.  The  rules  and  regula- 
tions are  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  prisoner 
as  soon  as  he  enters.  If  an  inmate  obeys 
these  rules  and  regulations  he  will  be  let  alone, 
and  will  go  through  his  term  of  service  with- 
out being  punished.  If  he  becomes  unruly 
and  disobedient  he  will  be  punished,  and  that, 
too,  very  severely. 

Each  prisoner  is  allowed  one  pound  of 
tobacco  a  month  for  chewing  and  smoking 
purposes.  In  this  prison  the  inmate  is  per- 
mitted to  smoke  in  his  cell.  This  is  the  only 
institution  with  which  I  am  acquainted  that 
permits  smoking.  The  prisoners  seem  to  en- 
joy their  smoke  very  much,  and  I  do  not  see 
but  that  it  is  just  the  thing,  for  if  a  person  on 
the  outside  takes  comfort  from  the  use  of  his 
pipe,  much  more  will  the  man  who  sits  in  the 
solitude  of  a  felon's  cell.  If  a  prisoner  vio- 
lates a  prison  rule  his  tobacco  is  taken  away 

The  Twin  Hells  19  289 


29O  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

from  him  for  a  time.  The  majority  of  the  in- 
mates will  obey  the  rules  of  the  prison  through 
fear  of  having  their  tobacco  taken  away  from 
them.  Each  prisoner  also  has  access  to  the 
books  of  the  library,  and  another  mode  of 
punishment  is  to  deprive  the  offender  the  use 
of  the  library  for  a  time.  This,  also,  has  a 
very  salutary  effect.  Another  mode  of  pun- 
ishment is  to  place  the  unruly  convict  in  a 
dungeon  and  feed  him  nothing  but  bread  and 
water.  The  prisoner  on  entering  this  dreary 
abode  must  leave  behind  him  his  hat,  coat  and 
shoes,  and  in  this  condition  he  is  required 
often  to  spend  days  and  weeks  in  solitary  con- 
finement. The  dungeon  contains  no  furni- 
ture of  any  description  save  a  night  bucket. 
Prisoners  do  not  remain  in  these  dark  holes 
very  long  until  they  promise  obedience.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  successful  modes  of  prison 
punishment.  In  case  of  a  second  or  third 
offense,  and  sometimes  for  the  first,  in  case  it 
is  a  bad  one,  the  offender  is  liable  to  receive 
a  flogging. 

This  is  one  of  the  few  penal  institutions  in 
our  country  where  the  cat-o'-nine-tails  is  used. 
When  a  prisoner's  conduct  has  been  such  that 
it  is  deemed  advisable  to  whip  him,  he  is  taken 


PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  291 

from  his  cell  and  led  to  a  post  in  the  rear  of 
one  of  the  large  buildings,  out  of  sight  of  the 
other  convicts.  His  clothing  is  then  removed, 
with  the  exception  of  his  shoes.  These  are 
left  on  his  feet  to  catch  the  blood  that  flows 
down  his  limbs.  In  this  nude  condition  he 
is  tightly  bound  to  a  post  with  chains.  Stand- 
ing at  the  post,  in  a  helpless  condition,  he 
receives  the  lash.  The  whip  consists  of  sev- 
eral leather  straps,  or  thongs,  at  the  ends  of 
which  small  pieces  of  steel  are  fastened. 
Every  blow  brings  the  blood.  I  have  been 
told  by  reliable  persons  that,  at  times,  prison- 
ers have  been  so  severely  flogged  that  the 
blood,  flowing  down  their  limbs  into  their 
shoes  would  fill  them  and  run  out  over  the 
tops.  This  seems  barbarous  in  the  extreme, 
and  my  humane  reader  at  once  cries  out,  "  It 
should  not  be  tolerated."  In  Missouri  this 
flogging  of  human  beings  in  prison  has  been 
going  on  for  more  than  fifty  years.  After  the 
punishment  is  over,  the  prisoner,  half  dead 
with  fright  and  pain,  is  led  back  to  his  cell, 
where  he  remains  for  a  day  or  two,  that  he 
may  recuperate.  He  throws  himself  down  on 
his  "  bunk,"  and  remains  there  for  hours,  the 
blood  still  flowing  from  his  lacerated  back. 


2Q2  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

Often  the  blanket  on  which  he  ]>es,  sticks  to 
his  bleeding  back,  and  a  fellow  convict  is  asked, 
often,  to  assist  in  removing  it.  Many  a  poor 
fellow  carries  with  him  through  life  the  scars 
which  were  made  while  a  convict  in  this  prison. 
One  day  while  I  was  working  in  the  coal 
mines  of  the  Kansas  penitentiary,  a  fellow-con- 
vict showed  me  his  scarred  back.  He  had 
served  a  term  in  the  Missouri  penitentiary, 
and  while  there  had  been  severely  whipped. 
His  back  told  the  story  too  plainly  that  his 
whipping  had  been  a  severe  and  cruel  one. 
It  would  seem  that  the  day  of  the  whipping- 
post had  passed  away;  that  the  doors  of  pur 
advanced  civilization  were  shut  against  it. 

Many  of  the  prison  officials  claim  that  it  is 
the  most  healthy  mode  of  inflicting  punish- 
ment; that  to  place  a  convict  in  a  dungeon  and 
to  feed  him  on  bread  and  water  is  far  more 
injurious  to  his  health  than  to  give  him  a  good 
"  paddling,"  and  it  don't  require  so  long  to  do 
the  work.  The  same  results  are  reached  more 
quickly.  Others  claim  that  it  is  impossible  to 
have  good  prison  discipline  without  resorting 
to  the  lash.  This  statement  is  not  correct. 
There  is  no  better  discipline  to  be  found  in 
any  penal  institution,  than  that  in  the  Kansas 


PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  2£  J 

penitentiary,  where  no  prisoner  ever  receives  a 
stroke  from  a  whip.  The  laws  of  that  State 
forbid  it.  In  our  humble  judgment  it  would 
be  the  best  thing  that  the  Missouri  Legislature 
could  do  at  its  next  session,  to  prohibit  any 
further  use  of  the  lash.  Sometimes  a  paddle 
is  used,  with  small  holes  bored  in  the  end,  and 
every  time  this  paddle  strikes  the  nude  flesh, 
blisters  are  raised.  Again,  another  instrument 
of  punishment  in  use  is  a  thick,  broad,  leather 
strap,  fastened  in  a  wooden  handle,  at  the  end 
of  which  lateral  incisions  are  made  that  give  it 
the  appearance  of  a  saw.  There  is  no  trouble 
in  raising  huge  blisters  "  with  this  engine  of 
warfare. "  All  these  modes  are  barbarous,  and 
should  be  forbidden.  Whenever  severe  pun- 
ishment becomes  essential,  let  the  prisoner 
remain  in  the  dungeon,  living  on  bread  and 
water  until  he  promises,  in  good  faith,  to 
behave  himself.  A  great  deal  of  useless 
punishment  can  be  avoided  if  the  officer  in 
charge  of  the  prison  discipline  is  a  humane 
man  and  a  good  judge  of  human  nature,  and 
no  other  should  be  permitted  to  fill  this  im- 
portant position.  We  must  not,  however,  be 
too  hasty  in  condemning  prison  officials  for 
harsh  treatment  of  those  under  their  charge. 


294  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

They  have  some  of  the  most  desperate  men 
on  the  face  of  the  earth  to  deal  with,  and  at 
times  it  becomes  a  necessity  to  use  harsh 
measures.  Notwithstanding  this  is  all  true, 
there  are  but  very  few  human  beings  but  what 
have  white  spots  in  their  otherwise  darkened 
souls,  and  often  a  word  of  kindness  does  more 
than  a  cruel  blow  from  a  merciless  officer. 

The  excellent  discipline  of  this  institution  is 
due,  in  the  main,  to  Captain  Bradbury,  the 
deputy  warden.  He  is  beyond  doubt,  one  of 
the  best,  and  most  experienced  prison  men  in 
the  United  States.  He  has  been  connected 
with  the  Missouri  prison  for  thirty-three  years. 
The  warden  looks  after  the  finances  of  the 
institution,  and  it  belongs  to  Captain  Brad- 
bury to  hold  in  subjection  the  two  thousand 
criminals  that  are  crowded  together  in  that 
small  prison  enclosure.  This  celebrated  dep- 
uty warden  is  a  Virginian  by  birth.  He  is 
sixty -two  years  of  age.  He  served  in  the 
Mexican  war,  and  now  draws  a  pension  from 
the  Government,  because  of  his  services 
there.  If  a  prisoner  conducts  himself  prop- 
erly, Captain  Bradbury  will  treat  him  as 
humanely  as  he  can  under  the  circumstances. 
If  he  becomes  willful  and  unruly,  the  Captain 


PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  2$$ 

no  doubt  will  take  great  pleasure  in  giving  the 
offender  "a  good  paddling, "to  use  his  own 
forcible  expression.  This  official  is  a  strong 
advocate  of  corporal  punishment.  He  claims 
that  a  "  little  loosening  up  of  the  hide  "  of  an 
obstreperous  prisoner  does  the  said  prisoner  a 
vast  amount  of  good.  Among  the  convicts 
the  deputy  warden  is  austere.  He  is  never 
seen  sauntering  about  the  prison  enclosure 
with  his  long  arms  entwined  about  any  of 
"the  boys  in  stripes."  He  claims,  that  too 
great  a  familiarity  breeds  contempt.  This 
seeming  harshness  when  in  the  presence  of 
the  prisoners  is  only  borrowed  for  the  occa- 
sion, for,  away  from  the  convicts,  there  is  not 
a  more  social  gentleman  in  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri. Great  credit  is  due  to  Captain  Brad- 
bury for  his  excellent  management  of  this  insti- 
tution, under  such  unfavorable  circumstances. 
Could  he  be  persuaded  to  quit  the  use  of  the 
whipping  post,  and  use  other  measures  less 
barbarous,  I  think  the  same  discipline  could 
be  secured,  as  now  exists.  The  officers  here 
do  not  seem  to  be  so  exacting  as  in  many 
other  prisons.  In  the  Kansas  penitentiary, 
when  prisoners  are  in  ranks  going  to  and  from 
their  meals,  their  cells,  or  workshops,  they  are 


296  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

required  to  fold  their  arms,  and  keep  their 
eyes  fixed  upon  the  back  of  the  one's  head 
just  in  front.  No  gazing  about  is  permitted, 
and  should  a  prisoner  speak  to  one  in  the  front 
of  him  and  be  detected,  he  would  be  summarily 
dealt  with.  In  the  Missouri  prison  I  noticed 
that  the  convicts  while  marching  would  gaze 
about  wherever  they  wished,  and  go  swinging 
along  with  their  arms  dangling  at  their  sides. 
In  many  prisons  the  inmates  are  required, 
while  in  ranks,  to  keep  their  hands  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  man  in  front.  This  would 
seem  to  be  the  most  desirable  way  of 
having  the  prisoners  march.  In  this  prison 
one  can  detect  more  of  a  homelike  feeling,  not 
so  rigorous  and  exacting  as  in  many  institu- 
tions of  this  nature.  Captain  Todd,  assistant 
deputy  warden,  is  another  official  of  long  stand- 
ing. He  has  been  with  this  prison  for  eigh- 
teen years,  and  is  very  popular.  In  this  con- 
nection we  must-  not  fail  to  mention  Captain 
Crump,  who  has  been  connected  with  this 
prison  for  thirty-six  years,  but  who  was  dis- 
charged during  the  last  administration  because 
of  his  making  statements  to  the  effect  that  the 
prison  was  run  by  a  political  "  rmg."  Ma  is. 
now  deputy  marshal  of  Jefferson  City,  and  IN 


PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  297 

a  faithful  officer.  He  incurred  the  displeasure 
of  the  contractors  because  of  the  grave  charges 
he  made  against  them,  because  of  their  in- 
human demands  upon  the  prisoners,  requiring 
of  them  more  work  than  they  were  able  to  per- 
form. Because  of  his  humaneness,  and  be- 
cause he  wanted  to  see  the  helpless  prisoner 
treated  as  he  should  be,  after  thirty-six  years 
of  faithful  service  was  discharged  from  the  in- 
stitution. In  1883  there  was  an  investigation 
made  of  many  serious  charges  preferred  against 
the  contractors  and  some  of  the  leading  offi- 
cials. The  committee  made  their  report  to  the 
governor,  and  some  live  hundred  pamphlets 
containing  this  report  were  printed  for  distri- 
bution. When  the  Legislature  met  none  of 
these  books  could  be  found,  and  the  whole 
matter  was  a  specimen  of  whitewash.  The 
report  contained  some  very  damaging  charges, 
but  nothing  was  ever  done  with  the  matter.  I 
visited  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state  and 
asked  to  see  one  of  these  books,  but  even  his 
office  did  not  contain  a  copy  of  this  State  docu- 
ment. The  Legislature  should  keep  a  watch- 
ful eye  over  this  penal  institution,  and,  while 
there  should  be  good  discipline  maintained, 


298  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

the  prisoners  should  not  be  treated  in  a  bar- 
barous manner 

A  PARDONING  BOARD. 

The  governor  has  the  pardoning  power. 
He  extends  executive  clemency  to  a  number 
annually.  He  has  not  time  to  attend  to  the 
duties  connected  with  this  prerogative.  There 
are  2,000  prisoners.  No  doubt  many  of  ihem 
have  excessive  sentences.  If  a  thorough 
investigation  was  made,  many  would  be  found 
innocent.  The  governor  has  not  the  time  to 
attend  to  these  matters.  There  should  be  a 
pardoning  board  appointed  to  investigate 
these  cases  and  advise  with  the  governor.  To 
show  the  necessity  of  such  a  board,  I  have 
only  to  state  that  during  the  past  year  the 
Pardoning  Board  of  Kansas  has  advised  execu- 
tive clemency  to  fifteen  crimimals  who  received 
their  pardons  on  the  grounds  of  innocency. 
One  of  the  number  being  a  Mrs.  Henrietta 
Cook,  who  was  sentenced  for  life,  and  who 
had  served  fifteen  years  of  imprisonment, 
when,  upon  an  investigation  of  her  case  by 
the  Pardoning  Board,  she  was  discharged, 
there  being  no  doubt  as  to  her  innocence. 
The  great  majority  of  these  prisoners  are  poor 


PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  299 

and  friendless.  They  have  no  one  on  the  out- 
side to  aid  them  in  securing  their  rights,  and 
unless  a  pardoning  board  is  appointed  to  in- 
vestigate these  cases,  many  a  man  and  woman 
entirely  innocent,  will  have  to  serve  out  a  sen- 
tence in  this  prison. 

It  is  but  natural  for  the  contractors  to  use 
their  influence  to  prevent  the  men  under  their 
control  from  receiving  pardons.  If  a  man  is 
sentenced  for  ten  years,  and  has  been  in  one 
of  the  shops  for  two  or  three  years,  and  has 
learned  to  do  his  work  well,  the  contractor 
will  want  to  keep  him  instead  of  letting  him 
go,  and  will,  nft  doubt,  in  an  underhanded 
way,  do  all  against  the  poor  prisoner  he  can. 
This  strong  influence  in  many  cases  will  have 
to  be  counteracted  and  overcome  before  the 
prisoner  can  receive  his  pardon  and  obtain  his 
liberty.  A  pardoning  board,  when  appointed, 
should  be  men  who  would  not  be  in  collusion 
with  the  contractors,  but  be  men  who  would 
see  that  the  prisoner  had  justice. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

NOTED    CONVICTS. 

AT  the  present  time  there  are  fifty-six 
females  who  find  homes  in  this  living  tomb. 
Two-thirds  of  them  are  colored.  The  greater 
portion  are  kept  busy  making  underclothing 
for  the  prisoners.  They  are  detained,  during 
working  hours,  in  a  room,  seated  at  tables,  with 
a  lady  guard  watching  them.  They  are  not 
allowed  to  converse  with  each  other,  only  as 
they  get  permission  from  this  officer.  They 
are  not  permitted  to  see  the  male  prisoners. 
In  fact  there  is  no  way  of  entering  the  female 
prison  from  the  male  department.  The  dor- 
mitory is  on  the  third  floor.  The  female  con- 
victs wear  striped  calico  dresses,  the  stripes 
running  lengthwise.  The  female  prison  is 
kept  scrupulously  clean,  which  reflects  great 
credit  upon  those  having  the  management  of 
this  department. 

In  company  with  Doctor  Lewellyn,  the 
prison  physician,  I  passed  through  the  dormi- 
tory. Here  I  found  a  great  curiosity.  It  was 
a  baby  prisoner,  six  months  old.  The  little 
300 


NOTED  CONVICTS.  3OI 

convict  was  born  in  the  penitentiary.  It  is  a 
colored  child — its  mother  being  a  mulatto,  who 
was  sent  to  prison  for  fifteen  years  for  murder- 
ing two  of  her  children.  When  on  the  out- 
side, she  lived  with  her  paramour,  a  white  man, 
and,  as  fast  as  children  were  born  to  them,  she 
would  murder  them  in  cold  blood.  The  white 
man  was  tried  also  as  accessory  to  the  murder, 
but,  owing  to  her  refusal  to  testify  against  him, 
there  was  not  sufficient  evidence  to  convict 
him,  and  he  was  set  at  liberty.  He  often  visits 
her  at  the  prison,  bringing  her  eatables,  which 
are  very  much  relished  in  the  penitentiary.  I 
saw  also  the  notorious  Sadie  Hayes,  who  wa-s 
sent  up  from  St.  Louis  for  killing  a  policeman. 
She  was  under  the  influence  of  strong  drink, 
and,  thus  crazed  with  whisky,  the  officer  tried 
to  arrest  her.  She  drew  a  razor,  and  began  to 
slash  away  at  the  officer,  and,  in  spite  of  his 
club  and  large,  muscular  frame,  she  soon  cut 
him  to  pieces.  He  expired  on  the  sidewalk, 
where  the  engagement  took  place.  She  was 
sent  up  for  ninety-nine  years,  and  has  now  been 
in  prison  about  three  years.  She  is  one  of  the 
most  desperate  looking  women  I  ever  saw,  and, 
when  crazed  with  drink,  becomes  an  infuriated 
demon.  She  is  an  adept  in  the  use  of  the  razor. 


3<D2  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

The  oldest  female  prisoner  is  an  aged  Ger- 
man woman  by  the  name  of  Oldstein,  from 
Gasconade  County.  She  has  been  in  the  peni- 
tentiary thirteen  years,  and,  doubtless,  would 
get  a  pardon  if  she  had  any  place  where  she 
could  make  her  home  after  securing  her  liberty. 
The  old  woman  is  entirely  broken  down  and  is 
a  physical  wreck.  She  spends  the  most  of  her 
time  knitting.  Aside  from  keeping  her  own 
bedding  clean  she  is  not  required  to  perform 
any  labor.  She  was  charged  with  a  cold- 
blooded murder.  She,  her  husband  and 
daughter  murdered  her  daughter's  husband. 
The  old  man  was  hung,  the  daughter  was  sent 
up  for  life,  and  died  in  a  few  months  after  en- 
tering prison.  The  old  woman  was  sentenced 
to  be  hung  also  with  her  husband,  but  the  gov- 
ernor commuted  her  sentence  to  that  of  life 
imprisonment.  For  thirteen  long,  dreary  years 
she  has  lived  behind  these  prison  walls.  She 
longs  for  death,  but  death  refuses,  as  yet,  to 
claim  her  as  his  own.  Broken  in  health,  friend- 
less, penniless,  this  poor  old  woman  is  but 
another  proof  that  "  the  way  of  the  trans- 
gressor is  hard."  I  also  saw  Anna  Brown, 
another  female  prisoner,  who,  with  her  step- 
brother, planned  and  carried  into  execution  a 


NOTED    CONVICTS.  30$ 

terrible  cold-blooded  murder.  It  was  none 
other  than  the  killing  of  her  aged  father.  The 
boy  was  sent  to  prison  for  life  and  the  woman 
received  a  sentence  of  forty-nine  years.  Her 
sentence  might  just  as  well  have  read  "  life 
imprisonment  "  as  forty-nine  years,  for  she 
cannot  live  but  a  few  years  longer  in  confine- 
ment. Nannie  Stair  is  another  interesting 
prisoner.  She  came  from  Vernon  County. 
An  old  and  crippled  man  was  driving  through 
the  country.  Night  coming  on  found  him 
near  the  house  of  the  Stair  family.  He 
stopped  and  asl^ed  for  a  night's  lodging.  His 
request  was  granted.  That  was  the  old  man's 
last  night  of  earth.  During  the  hours  of  the 
night  Stair  and  his  wife  made  their  way  into  the 
bed-chamber  where  the  helpless  traveler  lay 
asleep  unconscious  of  his  doom.  It  was  not 
long  until  the  husband  sent  an  axe  crush- 
ing through  his  brain,  his  wife  standing 
by,  a  witness  to  the  fearful  deed.  Dur- 
ing the  same  night  they  dug  his  grave  in 
the  garden  back  of  the  house,  and  buried  him. 
Next  day  the  husband  drove  the  murdered 
man's  team  to  a  town  not  far  distant,  and  sold 
it.  In  a  couple  of  weeks  friends  began  to  in- 
stitute search  for  the  missing  man.  He  was 


304  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

traced  to  the  home  of  the  Stair  family.  The 
husband  and  wife  being  separated,  and  the 
officers  telling  the  wife  that  she  would  be  let 
out  of  the  scrape  without  much  punishment  in 
case  she  would  tell  all  she  knew,  she  informed 
them  of  all  the  details  of  the  bloody  deed, 
where  the  victim  lay  buried,  and  what  dispo- 
sition was  made  of  the  murdered  man's  team 
and  money.  The  two  were  arrested,  tried  and 
convicted.  The  husband  was  hung,  and  the 
wife  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  six  years. 
Her  time  will  now  soon  be  served  out,  and 
she  will  once  more  be  a  free  woman.  The 
desire  of  this  family  to  obtain  filthy  lucre  was 
too  great.  Of  the  fifty-six  female  inmates  of 
of  the  Missouri  penitentiary,  fifteen  of  them 
were  sent  for  murder.  Kansas  City  has  sev- 
eral female  representatives.  It  is  stated,  on 
good  authority,  that  the  sentences  imposed  by 
the  judges  of  the  Kansas  City  district  are  far 
more  excessive  than  in  any  other  portion  of 
the  State.  I  was  told  that  a  number  of  these 
female  convicts  were  very  desperate  charac- 
ters, while  others  of  them,  driven  to  deeds  of 
desperation  on  account  of  poverty,  committed 
acts  that  for  a  time  placed  them  behind  prison 
bolts  and  bars.  Something  should  be  done  to 


NOTED  CONVICTS.  40$ 

aid  these  poor  women,  when  their  terms  empire, 
to  get  a  start  in  life.  If  something  is  not  done 
for  them,  it  will  be  but  a  short  time  when  they 
will  drift  back  again  into  crime  and  prison. 

The  author  of  this  book  believes  that  it  is 
all  right  to  send  money  to  India  and  other 
remote  countries  to  aid  the  heathen,  but  instead 
of  sending  it  all  away  to  lands  beyond  the  seas, 
he  thinks  a  portion  of  it,  at  least,  could  be  well 
expended  this  side  the  briny  deep  in  helping 
some  of  these  poor  unfortunate  convicts  to  get 
another  start  in  life,  and  thus  lift  them  out  of  a 
life  of  crime. 

WHISKY  AND  CARDS. 

Felix  Bagan's  history  shows  the  career  of 
many  a  boy,  when  thrown  into  bad  company. 
At  an  early  age  Felix  was  left  an  orphan. 
When  his  parents  both  died  he  had  not  a  rela- 
tive living  that  cared  anything  for  him.  Taken 
from  the  grave  of  his  mother,  who  died  shortly 
after  the  death  and  burial  of  her  husband,  the 
unfortunate  lad  was  placed  in  the  orphan's 
home  in  St.  Louis.  Here  he  remained  for 
several  years,  and  acquired  all  the  education 
that  he  possessed.  After  becoming  old  enough 
to  do  some  work,  he  was  given  to  a  farmer, 
who  took  him  to  his  home  in  the  country. 

The  Twin  Hells  20 


306  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

Possessed  of  a  genial  disposition,  he  soon  made 
many  friends.  He  was  highly  esteemed  by  the 
lady  and  gentleman  who  adopted  him.  He 
was  honest  and  industrious.  It  was  on  elec- 
tion day  that  his  down-fall  took  place.  In 
company  with  several  young  men,  who  resided 
on  neighboring  farms,  he  went  to  a  small  town 
near  by  to  pass  the  day.  Being  invited  to 
participate  in  a  game  of  cards,  he  and  several 
of  his  companions  found  their  way  into  the 
back  part  of  a  saloon,  where  the  day  was  spent 
in  drinking  and  gambling.  Toward  evening  a 
dispute  arose  about  the  cards,  a  drunken  fight 
was  the  result.  Bagan,  half  crazed  with  drink, 
drew  his  knife  and  stabbed  to  the  death  one  of 
his  companions.  The  young  man  whom  he 
murdered,  prior  to  this  had  been  one  of  his 
best  friends.  When  he  saw  the  life-blood  of 
his  companion  ebb  away,  he  came  to  his 
senses,  and  was  soon  sober.  He  wept  like  a 
child  when  he  saw  his  friend  sinking  away  into 
the  arms  of  death.  The  awful  deed  was  done, 
and  nothing  was  left  to  the  unfortunate  youth 
but  to  be  led  away  to  prison,  with  the  blood 
of  a  human  being  upon  his  garments.  In  due 
time  he  had  his  trial,  and  was  sent  to  the  peni- 
tentiary for  thirty  years.  He  was  twenty-two 


NOTED    CONVICTS.  3O/ 

years  of  age  when  he  received  the  sentence. 
He  has  now  been  in  the  prison  thirteen  years. 
For  seven  years  he  worked  in  the  saddle-tree 
shop  for  Sullivan,  Hayes  &  Co.,  prison  con- 
tractors. At  the  end  of  that  time  his  health 
failing,  he  refused  to  work.  The  prison  au- 
thorities thought  he  was  trying  to  shirk  his 
work.  After  being  severely  flogged,  he  was 
placed  in  the  dungeon  and  kept  there  in  soli- 
tary confinement  for  three  months.  Half 
dead,  he  was  taken  to  the  hospital  and  left  in 
the  hands  of  the  prison  physician.  For  a  time 
it  was  thought  he  would  die.  After  a  while 
he  began  to  recover;  large  patches  of  hair  fell 
from  his  scalp,  leaving  his  head  thickly  cov- 
ered with  bald  spots.  When  he  entered  the 
prison  he  was  a  fine-appearing  young  man,  but 
thirteen  years  of  imprisonment  have  converted 
him  into  a  broken-down  old  man  and  physical 
wreck.  That  was  a  sad  day  for  that  unfortun- 
ate youth  when  he  entered  the  saloon  to  take 
part  in  the  game  of  cards.  He  will  not  live  to 
the  end  of  his  sentence,  but  will  die  in  the 
penitentiary,  and  find  his  last,  long  home  in 
the  prison  grave-yard.  Young  man,  as  you 
read  the  history  of  this  convict,  can  you  not 


308  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

persuade  yourself  to  let  whisky  and  cards  alone 
for  the  future? 

BILL   RYAN. 

Passing  through  the  cell  houses,  I  was  shown 
the  room  occupied  by  thenotorous  Bill  Ryan 
for  seven  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
James  boys'  gang.  Being  convicted  of  high- 
way robbery  he  was  sent  -o  the  prison  for 
twenty  years.  After  Jesse  James  had  been 
killed  by  young  Ford,  and  Frank's  crimes  had 
been  pardoned,  Ryan's  sentence  was  com- 
muted to  ten  years,  and  after  serving  seven  he 
regained  his  liberty. 

Ryan  was  accredited  with  being  one  of 
the  best  prisoners  in  the  penitentiary.  On 
the  outside,  if  reports  be  true,  he  was  one  of 
the  most  desperate  men  in  Missouri.  His 
time  was  spent  in  drinking,  gambling,  quarrel- 
ing, fighting  and  killing.  He  is  charged  with 
killing  a  number  of  men.  He  was  twice  tried 
for  murder,  but  proving  an  alibi,  the  jury 
brought  in  a  verdict  of  "  not  guilty. "  The 
prison  officials  speak  in  the  highest  terms  of 
his  conduct  while  an  inmate  of  the  penitentiary. 
He  was  an  obedient  and  hard-working  convict. 
Now  that  he  is  once  more  a  free  man  it  is  to 


NOTED  CONVICTS.  309 

be  hoped  that  he  will  show  himself  as  good  a 
citizen  on  the  outside,  as  he  was  on  the  inside, 
cf  prison  walls. 

WILLIE   HILDRUM. 

This  youthful  convict  is  but  sixteen  years  of 
age.  He  is  the  youngest  prisoner  in  the 
penitentiary.  He  was  formely  a  boot-black  on 
the  streets  of  St.  Louis.  Getting  into  a  fight 
one  day  with  one  of  his  boot-black  companions 
over  a  nickel  that  they  had  jointly  earned 
"  shining  up  "  a  patron's  boots,  young  Hildrum 
drew  an  old  knife  from  his  pocket,  which  he 
had  found  a  few  days  before,  and  sent  the 
rusty  blade  into  the  heart  of  the  street  Arab. 
The  youthful  murderer  was  tried  and  convicted 
of  manslaughter,  and  on  account  of  his  youth 
was  given  but  two  years  in  the  penitentiary. 

S.  D.  HENSON. 

This  convict  was  at  one  time  county  judge 
of  Stoddard  County,  and  highly  respected. 
He  is  one  of  the  finest  appearing  men  I  ever 
saw.  His  finely  shaped  head  bespeaks  in- 
telligence. It  is  sad  to  see  such  grand  look- 
ing specimens  dressed  in  the  garb  of  disgrace. 
Judge  Henson  became  involved  in  a  quarrel 
with  one  of  his  neighbors  over  some  trivial 


JIO  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

matter,  and  killed  him.  His  sentence  is  for 
twenty  years,  which  for  him  at  this  advanced 
age  means  death  in  the  prison.  Great  efforts 
are  being  put  forth  for  his  pardon,  but  it  is  a 
question  left  entirely  with  the  governor,  and 
no  one  can  tell  how  he  may  act. 

Judge  Henson  is  not  at  heart  a  criminal. 
On  that  open  countenance  there  is  no  mark  of 
Cain.  Thinking  of  his  sad  case,  more  than  ever 
am  I  convinced  that  we  are  creatures  of 
circumstances.  How  many  of  my  readers, 
had  they  in  the  past,  been  surrounded  by  the 
same  circumstances,  subject  to  the  same  tempta- 
tions, would  not  have  acted  in  the  same 
manner,  and  like  Judge  Henson  found  a  home 
in  a  convict's  cell. 

FORTY-EIGHT  YEARS   A   PRISONER. 

John  Hicks  is  the  veteran  penitentiary  con- 
vict of  the  United  States.  Under  an  alias  he 
served  one  term  in  the  Missouri  penitentiary. 
Most  of  his  time  has  been  spent  in  prisons  fur- 
ther east.  He  is  now  eighty-four  years  of  age, 
and  quite  recently  was  released  from  the  Mich- 
igan City  penitentiary.  Prison  authorities 
have  compared  notes  and  find  that  he  has  actu- 
ally served  forty-eight  years  of  prison  life.  He 


NOTED    CONVICTS.  311 

is  the  oldest  living  criminal  in  this  country. 
He  has  served  ten  terms,  the  greater  portion 
of  them  being  in  Indiana.  His  first  crime  was 
committed  in  1839.  In  some  way  he  learned 
that  a  man  named  Bearder  had  $360  in  his 
house.  While  the  family  were  at  church  Hicks 
rifled  the  house  and  stole  their  money.  A 
marked  coin  led  to  his  conviction,  and  he  got 
a  three  years'  sentence.  He  was  never,  after- 
ward, out  six  months  at  a  time,  and  was  sent 
up  successively  for  burglary,  criminal  assault, 
robbery,  larceny,  cattle-stealing  and  horse- 
stealing.  At  the  expiration  of  his  fifth  term, 
at  Michigan  City,  he  made  his  way  to  the 
office,  where  the  directors  were  in  session.  He 
begged  them  to  allow  him  to  build  a  shanty  in 
a  part  of  the  prison  in  which  he  could  sleep 
and  call  his  home.  All  that  he  asked  was  that 
the  scraps  from  the  table  be  given  him  for 
food.  The  board  refused  to  allow  him  this, 
and  Hicks  bade  them  good-by.  He  walked 
to  a  small  town  near  by,  where  he  soon  was 
arrested  for  thieving,  and  was  taken  to  prison 
to  serve  what  he  declared  to  be  his  last  term. 
His  head  is  as  white  as  snow,  and  in  keeping 
with  his  long,  flowing  beard,  and  he  looks  like 
a  patriarch,  yet  is  not  stooped  a  particle.  His 


JI2  THE  TWIN  HELLS 

desire  now  is  to  secure  honest  work,  that  will 
guarantee  him  a  home.  He  wishes  to  spend 
the  rest  of  his  days  a  free  man.  Had  this  man 
been  assisted  just  a  little  at  the  expiration  of 
his  first  term,  he  might  have  become  a  useful 
citizen,  but  as  it  was,  his  life  was  spent  behind 
the  bars.  When  once  the  feet  find  themselves 
walking  in  the  pathway  of  crime,  it  is  very 
difficult  for  them  ever  to  walk  in  paths  of  hon- 
esty  and  uprightness  thereafter. 

NINE  TIMES. 

As  I  was  walking  through  the  penitential  y, 
in  company  with  Deputy  Warden  Bradbury,  he 
pointed  out  an  old  convict,  and  said,  "  There  is 
a  fellow  that  has  seen  prison  life.  He  is  here 
this  time  under  the  name  of  Gus  Loman.  He 
is  now  serving  his  ninth  term  in  this  prison. 
At  the  expiration  of  one  of  his  sentences  he 
went  away  and  was  gone  over  a  year,  and  when 
he  came  back  I  asked  him  where  he  had  been 
so  long.  His  reply  was,  '  Simply  rusticating 
at  Joliet,  111.,  with  some  friends.'  Every  time 
he  is  sent  to  prison  he  gives  in  a  new  and  dif- 
ferent name  and,  of  course,  no  one  but  himseli 
knows  what  his  real  name  is."  When  asked 
why  he  comes  to  the  prison  so  often,  ht 


NOTED    CONVICTS.  313 

remarked  that,  when  once  in  prison  itis  impos- 
sible to  get  work  to  do  on  the  outside,  and  he 
had  made  up  his  mind  to  spend  the  rest  of  his 
days  in  prison.  He  claimed  that  the  fates 
were  against  him  and  he  could  not  make  a  liv- 
ing on  the  outside,  as  no  one  would  employ 
him;  that  he  had  tried  it  several  times  and 
failed,  and  now  he  had  given  up  all  hope.  He 
is  a  bold,  bad  and  natural  thief.  As  soon  as 
his  term  is  out  he  goes  a  little  distance  from 
the  prison,  gets  on  a  spree,  gets  into  trouble, 
steals  something,  and  soon  finds  himself  back 
again  in  the  penitentiary.  He  is  now  over 
seventy  years  of  age,  and  is  both  a  physical 
and  moral  wreck.  What  an  awful  warning  for 
the  young  is  the  history  of  such  a  wasted  life. 

DESPERADO  JOHNSON. 

This  convict  is  the  most  daring  and  des- 
perate criminal  in  the  Missouri  penitentiary. 
The  prison  authorities  have  had  more  trouble 
with  him  than  with  any  other  man  who  ever 
found  a  home  behind  the  walls  of  this  great 
institution.  He  was  sent  up  from  Jackson 
County,  and  was  charged  with  murdering  two 
men  before  he  was  finally  convicted  of  crime. 
On  trial  for  these  two  murders  he  was  success- 


314  THE   TWIN   HELLS. 

ful  in  proving  an  alibi.  The  last  time  he  was 
not  so  successful,  and  received  a  sentence  of 
twelve  years.  Soon  after  his  arrival  at  the 
prison  he  was  set  to  work  in  one  of  the  shop's. 
When  he  became  a  little  acquainted,  his  innate 
cussedness  induced  him  to  raise  a  riot  in  the 
prison.  It  was  a  desperate  undertaking,  but 
he  was  equal  to  the  emergency.  For  days 
and  weeks  he  was  on  the  alert,  and  when  a 
guard  was  not  on  the  watch  he  would  com- 
municate with  a  convict,  and  enlist  his  serv- 
ices, and  give  him  his  instructions  as  to  what 
part  he  should  perform  when  the  signal  should 
be  given. 

At  last  the  day  came  when  all  was  ready  for 
the  plans  so  well  laid  to  be  carried  into  execu- 
tion. Each  of  the  convicts  who  were  to  act 
in  concert  with  him  piled  up  a  lot  of  kindling 
in  their  respective  shops  and  saturated  it  with 
kerosene.  When  the  prisoners  were  being 
marched  out  to  supper,  they  threw  matches 
into  the  piles  of  kindling-wood,  and  soon  sev- 
eral buildings  were  on  fire.  Intense  excite- 
ment  now  prevailed  among  the  two  thousand 
convicts.  The  ranks  were  quickly  broken,  and 
all  was  confusion.  Some  of  the  better  dis- 
posed convicts  tried  to  assist  the  officers  in 


NOTED    CONVICTS.  31$ 

putting  out  the  fires,  and  were  in  turn  knocked 
down  and  trampled  upon  by  those  who  were 
in  favor  of  the  riot.  In  the  midst  of  this 
great  excitement  Johnson,  the  leader,  with 
four  of  his  associates,  knocked  down  one  of 
the  guards  and  stripped  him  of  his  clothing. 
Johnson  put  on  this  suit  of  blue  and  started  to 
one  of  the  towers.  Reaching  the  same,  he 
asked  permission  of  the  officer  on  duty  to  let 
down  the  ladder  and  allow  him  to  ascend  and 
assist  him  in  "  holding  the  fort,"  as  this  was 
Captain  Bradbury's  orders.  Johnson's  inten- 
tions were  to  get  on  top  of  the  wall  and  into 
the  tower,  where  the  guard  opened  the  large 
gate  below  by  the  use  of  a  lever.  The  con- 
vict, once  inside  the  tower,  would  knock  the 
officer  down,  seize  his  gun,  raise  the  lever, 
throw  open  the  large  gate  in  the  wall,  and  per- 
mit the  prisoners  all  to  rush  out.  This  was  a 
bold  scheme,  and  it  is  a  wonder,  during  the 
great  excitement  that  prevailed,  that  it  was 
not  successful.  The  officer  on  duty,  when 
requested  by  the  convict  to  allow  him  to 
ascend  the  ladder,  coolly  drew  his  gun,  and 
told  him  if  he  dared  to  ascend  he  would  send 
buckshot  into  his  body. 

Foiled  in   this,    the   desperado    returns   to 


316  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

where  the  officials  are  fighting  the  flames,  and 
began  cutting  the  hose  so  as  to  stop  the  supply 
of  water.  The  fire  raged  furiously.  A  strong 
wind  sprung  up  adding  intensity  to  the  flames. 
Over  $200,000  worth  of  property  was  soon 
swept  away  in  this  direful  storm  of  fire.  After 
a  fearful  conflict  the  prisoners  were  overpow- 
ered and  driven  into  their  cells. 

A  number  of  them  were  severely  wounded. 
Several  died  of  the  injuries  received.  The 
prison  directors  had  a  called  meeting  and 
investigated  the  riot.  The  blame  fell  upon 
convict  Johnson.  A  criminal  charge  was  pre- 
ferred against  him  in  the  courts,  for  arson.  HQ 
was  convicted  and  served  an  additional  sen- 
tence of  twelve  years.  This,  added  to  his 
former  sentence,  makes  twenty-four  years  of 
imprisonment  for  this  desperado.  When  he 
was  taken  out  of  the  penitentiary  to  stand 
trial  for  setting  fire  to  the  prison,  he  was 
heavily  loaded  with  chains,  and  in  the  custody 
of  six  prison  officials.  It  was  feared  he  would 
make  a  desperate  effort  to  escape  during  this 
trial.  On  his  return  to  the  prison  he  was 
placed  in  a  dark  dungeon,  and  has  been  kept 
caged  up  ever  since,  like  a  wild  beast.  When 
he  is  given  exercise  he  wears  a  ball  and  chain 


NOTED    CONVICTS.  317 

and  an  officer  walks  immediately  behind  him, 
with  a  loaded  Winchester,  ready  to  shoot  him 
down  if  he  makes  any  bad  breaks.  The  offi- 
cials are  very  careful  when  they  enter  his 
cell  for  any  purpose,  as  he  is  liable  to  kill  them. 
Captain  Bradbury,  the  deputy  warden,  in 
speaking  of  him,  says,  he  is  the  most  desperate 
criminal  he  has  met  during  his  thirty-three 
years  of  prison  experience. 

HENRY  BUTLER, 

a  colored  representative  of  Pettis  County,  has 
served  the  longest  consecutive  term  of  any  of 
the  male  prisoners.  Henry  killed  his  man, 
and  for  this  mistake  has  been  doing  service 
for  the  State  of  Missouri  "  without  money 
and  without  price  "  for  the  past  fifteen  years. 
The  story  of  his  downfall  is  very  romantic. 
He  was  a  married  man,  and  the  father  of 
an  interesting  family.  There  lived  near  him 
a  young  lady  of  color,  very  handsome  and 
attractive,  so  the  story  goes,  and  for  whom 
Henry  had  a  great  liking.  There  was  noth- 
ing wrong  about  all  this,  perhaps,  if  Henry 
had  not  permitted  his  affections  to  go  too 
far.  Instead  of  admiring  this  dusky  maiden 
at  a  distance,  as  he  should  have  done,  he 


31 8  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

brought  her  to  his  home,  and  cared  for  her 
there  in  a  manner  too  affectionate  for  the  tastes 
of  his  colored  neighbors.  Henry  was  remon- 
strated with,  but  to  no  purpose.  At  the  close 
of  church  services  one  moonlight  Sunday  even- 
ing his  neighbors  held  an  indignation  meeting, 
and  it  was  resolved  to  put  a  stop  to  Henry's 
little  love  scheme,  as  it  was  now  very  evident 
that  his  wife  was  getting  tired  of  having  the 
maiden  about  her  so  much.  The  meeting  ad- 
journed that  evening  to  have  the  next  one  the 
following  night  at  Henry's  front  gate.  During 
the  ensuing  day  he  was  apprised  of  the  inten- 
tions of  his  callers,  and  was  urged  to  let  the 
young  lady  depart  from  under  his  roof.  Henry 
refused,  since  love  is  blind.  He  got  his  shot- 
gun in  readiness  to  protect  his  home  and  his 
rights.  At  the  appointed  hour  some  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  neighbors  gathered  at  the  place 
selected,  and  demanded  of  Henry  that  he 
should  give  up  the  maiden  loved,  or  pull 
hemp.  At  this  juncture  Henry  called  into 
requisition  his  double-barreled  shotgun  and 
turned  both  barrels  loose  on  the  excited 
throng.  The  result  was  a  stampede,  one 
negro  killed  and  two  wounded.  For  this  brave 
deed  he  was  arrested,  tried  and  sent  to  prison 


NOTED    CONVICTS.  319 

for  life.  In  solitude  for  fifteen  years,  Henry 
has  had  the  privilege  of  thinking  of  his  illicit 
love,  none  of  his  former  neighbors  daring  to 
molest  him  or  make  him  afraid. 

The  case  of  a   prisoner    who    was    in  the 
Missouri  prison  under  the  name  of 

GEORGE     ELLIS 

is  very  remarkable.  Over  in  Kansas  a  cold- 
blooded murder  had  been  committed.  It 
seemed  impossible  for  the  authorities  to  dis- 
cover any  trace  of  the  murderer.  Shortly 
after  this  murder  had  been  committed,  Ellis 
was  arrested  and  tried  in  Missouri  on  a  charge 
of  horse-stealing,  and  got  a  two  years'  sen- 
tence. He  heard  of  this  murder  having  been 
committed  in  Kansas,  and,  for  some  reason 
best  known  to  himself,  he  went  to  Deputy 
Warden  Bradbury  and  confidentially  told  him 
that  he  had  committed  the  offense,  and  asked 
him  to  notify  the  authorities  of  Kansas.  This 
was  done  and  a  pardon  was  granted  Ellis  that 
he  might  be  taken  to  Kansas  and  tried  for 
murder.  No  doubt,  Ellis'  motive  in  stating 
that  he  was  guilty  of  this  offense  was  to  get 
out  of  the  penitentiary.  He  supposed  that 
after  getting  pardoned  out  of  the  Missouri 


320  THE  TWIN   HELLS. 

prison,  he  would  have  no  trouble  in  proving 
an  alibi  in  the  Kansas  murder  case,  and  in  this 
way  go  free.  He  was  taken  to  Kansas,  tried, 
and  failed  to  establish  his  alibi,  and  was  found 
guilty  of  murder  and  sentenced  to  the  peniten- 
tiary for  life.  If  Ellis  was  guilty  of  murder, 
he  surely  would  not  have  told  on  himself  and 
exchanged  a  two  years'  sentence  in  the  Mis- 
souri prison  for  a  life  sentence  in  the  Kansas 
penitentiary.  He  is,  no  doubt,  innocent  of 
this  crime,  but  should  serve  a  few  years  in  the 
Kansas  institution  because  of  his  smartness. 

THE   SUICIDE. 

A  young  man  by  the  name  of  John.  Welch 
was  sent  from  Stoddard  County  for  an  hei- 
nous offense,  under  a  sentence  of  ten  years. 
His  family  were  among  the  best  people  of  that 
county,  and  highly  respected.  John  proved 
to  be  a  black  lamb  of  the  flock.  He  had  not 
been  in  prison  but  a  few  weeks  when  he  got 
enough  of  that  kind  of  living,  and,  being  un- 
able to  have  his  resignation  accepted,  he  con- 
cluded to  end  his  career  by  committing  suicide. 
It  was  on  a  beautiful  Sunday  morning,  and  the 
prisoners  having  been  to  religious  services, 
vere  on  their  way  back  to  their  cells  to  spend 


NOTED    CONVICTS.  321 

the  rest  of  the  day  in  solitude.  The  chapel 
where  the  services  were  held  is  in  the  third 
story  of  a  large  brick  structure.  An  iron 
stairway  is  attached  to  the  wall  on  the  outside 
of  the  building.  It  was  down  this  stairway 
the  convicts  were  marching,  one  behind  the 
other,  when  John,  stepping  out  of  the  door  on 
to  the  stairway,  instead  of  following  his  com- 
rades down  and  into  his  cell,  as  he  had  done 
on  former  occasions,  leaped  out  into  space  and 
fell  to  the  ground.  When  he  was  picked  up, 
life  was  extinct.  He  received  his  pardon  that 
day,  but  gave  his  life  as  the  ransom.  No  one 
can  imagine  how  much  this  youth  suffered  be- 
fore he  brought  himself  to  that  point  when  he 
decided  to  make  that  leap  into  eternity. 


The  Twin  Hells  21 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE    EX-CONVICT. 

HEAVY  are  the  burdens  which  men  in  prison 
must  bear.  They  are  deprived  of  liberty,  sepa- 
rated from  friends,  no  social  intercourse,  and 
constantly  maintaining  an  unnatural  position. 
The  convict's  place  is  lower  than  the  most  de- 
graded menial;  he  must  ask  for  permission 
even  to  get  a  drink  of  water.  No  serf  of  earth, 
no  slave,  however  wretched,  has  a  sadder  lot. 
These  unhappy  mortals  have  yielded  to  temp- 
tation, have  fallen,  and  are  paying  the  penalty 
of  violated  law.  Who  can  think  of  these  .de- 
graded beings,  without,  to  some  extent,  its 
calling  forth  the  sympathy  of  the  human  heart, 
for  we  must  not  forget  that  they,  too,  are  chil- 
dren of  one  universal  Father.  However  deplor- 
able the  condition  of  these  men  while  in  prison, 
is  it  much  better  when  they  regain  their 
freedom? 

One  morning  about  a  month  after  my  release 
from  prison,  as  I  was  getting  ready  for  break- 
fast, there  came  a  knock  at  the  door.  Opening 
it  I  saw  a  young  man  —  a  tramp  —  who  begged 


THE  EX-CONVICT.  323 

for  something  to  eat.  I  recognized  him  imme- 
diately as  a  former  fellow-convict.  He  had 
forgotten  me.  It  has  always  been  a  rule  in 
my  home,  when  any  one  came  to  my  door 
nungry,  he  should  have  something  to  eat.  At 
times,  adhering  to  this  practice  has  almost  con- 
verted my  home  into  a  hotel  for  tramps.  I 
invited  this  young  man  in,  and  requested  him 
to  take  a  seat  with  me  at  the  table.  He  did 
not  wait  for  a  second  invitation.  He  was  very 
hungry.  During  the  meal  I  inquired  as  to  his 
past  history.  He  gave  me  the  same  old  tramp 
"  racket."  I  had  listened  to  the  same  story 
many  times.  After  breakfast  was  over  I  asked 
him  if  he  would  have  a  cigar.  With  a  smile, 
he  said,  if  I  would  furnish  the  cigar,  he  would 
be  pleased  to  indulge.  I  invited  him  into 
another  room,  closed  the  door  and  locked  it. 
The  turning  of  the  key  rather  took  him  by  sur- 
prise. I  reached  out  my  hand  to  him,  and  said: 

"  Charley  D ,  don't  you  know  me?    Don't 

you  remember  the  man  who  worked  with  you 
for  a  couple  of  weeks  in  the  penitentiary  coal 
mines,  room  No.  3?  Have  you  forgotten  the 
last  day  we  worked  together,  when  a  large 
piece  of  slate  fell  upon  your  leg,  and  I  had  to 


324  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

assist  you  in  reaching  the  foot  of  the  shefr  *» 
you  were  being  conveyed  to  the  hospital?** 

"  My  God  !  Reynolds,  is  this  you  ?  "  he  ex- 
claimed. "  I  would  never  have  known  you  in 
your  pleasant  surroundings.  Had  I  met  you 
in  the  penitentiary  coal  mines,  dressed  in 
prison  stripes,  your  face  and  hands  covered 
with  coal  dust,  I  would  have  recognized  you." 

I  gave  him  his  much  coveted  cigar  and  in- 
vited him  to  a  chair.  I  was  anxious  to  learn 
his  history  since  he  left  the  prison.  He  had 
regained  his  liberty  almost  one  year  before  I 
was  released. 

After  he  had  reached  the  quiet  content- 
ment which  is  the  inevitable  result  of  a  well 
appreciated  breakfast  and  a  good  cigar,  I  said 
to  him  :  "  Charley,  just  drop  your  tramp  story 
and  tell  me  your  true  history  since  leaving  the 
prison.  I  am  anxious  to  know  just  what  an 
ex-convict  must  meet." 

This  young  fellow  was  twenty-five  years  of 
age.  He  served  five  years  in  the  penitentiary 
for  stealing  horses.  He  had  an  inferior  educa- 
tion, and  might  be  considered  an  average  ex- 
convict.  His  narrative  will  show  what  the 
great  majority  of  these  men  are  called  upon  to 
endure. 


THE  EX-CONVICT.  32$ 

His  story  revealed  the  fact  that  when  he 
left  the  penitentiary  he  had  thirteen  dollars  in 
money  and  a  suit  of  inferior  clothes,  such  as  is 
furnished  the  prisoner  when  discharged.  Hav- 
ing been  closely  confined  for  five  years,  with- 
out even  a  newspaper  to  read,  with  but  few 
visitors,  he  was  entirely  ignorant  of  what  had 
occurred  during  his  period  of  incarceration. 
His  parents  had  been  dead  for  several  years, 
and  he  had  no  friends  to  whom  he  could  apply 
for  aid.  The  large  iron  doors  swung  upon 
their  hinges,  and  he  went  forth  a  free  but 
bewildered  man.  He  had  liberty,  it  is  true, 
but  liberty  replete  with  such  trials  as  awaited 
this  young  man  is  certainly  little  better  than 
prison  confinement.  Passing  under  the  big 
stone  archway,  and  out  beyond  the  prison  en- 
closure, he  paused  for  a  few  moments  upon 
the  little  eminence  on  which  the  prison  stands, 
and  viewed  the  surrounding  country,  not 
knowing  what  to  do  or  where  to  go.  Finally 
he  takes  the  principal  road  that  leads  across 
the  country,  and  in  a  half  hour's  walk  reaches 
a  farm  house.  He  asks  for  work.  The  farmer 
needs  a  hand,  but  asks  the  applicant  for  whom 
he  worked  last. 

"  I  am  just  out  of  prison,"  was  the  reply. 


326  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

"  I  thought  so,"  said  the  farmer,  "  for  I  have 
seen  so  many  of  these  men  coming  out  of  that 
place  wearing  clothes  similar  to  those  you  have 
on.  How  long  were  you  in  prison,  and  what 
was  your  offense?  " 

"  I  served  five  years,  and  my  crime  was 
horse-stealing." 

At  this  frank  confession  the  farmer  slightly 
coughed,  and  stated  that  a  man  called  the  day 
before,  and  he  had  partially  promised  the  place 
to  him,  and  he  did  not  feel  like  employing 
any  one  until  he  heard  from  him.  Had  the 
farmer  been  as  frank  as  the  convict  he  would 
have  said,  "  I  don't  want  a  penitentiary-bird 
about  me,  and  particularly  one  that  has  been 
a  horse-thief. " 

Finding  no  employment  he  moved  on.  For 
two  weeks  this  friendless  ex-convict  walked 
about  the  country,  going  from  one  farm  house 
to  another,  seeking  employment.  He  practiced 
greateconomy,  but  at  the  expiration  of  thistime 
his  thirteen  dollars  were  gone.  He  was  now 
penniless,  friendless  and  almost  hopeless.  For 
two  weeks  he  had  told  the  truth,  and  frankly 
confessed  he  was  an  ex-convict.  He  had  a  de- 
sire to  do  right.  He  felt  that  the  first  step 
down  the  hill  toward  the  penitentiary  was  lying. 


THE   EX-CONVICT.  327 

But  two  weeks  squandered  in  trudging  about 
the  country  seeking  employment  and  finding 
none,  convinced  him  that  it  was  impossible  to 
obtain  work  and  tell  the  truth  as  to  his  past  his- 
tory, so  he  imagined  nothing  was  left  but  to 
practice  deception,  steal  or  starve.  Reader, 
what  would  you  have  done  ?  He  did  what  you 
probably  would,  surrounded  by  the  same 
circumstances  —  he  made  up  his  mind  to  lie. 
On  making' further  inquiries  for  work,  he  learns 
of  a  farmer  living  several  miles  away,  who 
desired  hired  help.  He  immediately  set  out 
for  that  place.  This  farmer,  like  all  the  rest, 
put  the  question,  "  For  whom  did  you  last 
work  ?  "  Instead  of  imparting  the  information 
that  he  was  an  ex-convict,  he  invented  a  little 
story  to  the  effect  that  he  had  worked  for  a 
farmer  living  some  miles  distant,  with  whom  he 
had  become  quite  well  acquainted,  having 
spent  a  Sunday  at  his  home,  and  whose  name 
he  gave  his  inquisitor.  He  received  employ- 
ment. A  bargain  was  made,  and  our  now 
happy  ex-convict  went  to  work.  Three  weeks 
passed  away.  The  employer  and  the  employee 
were  mutually  satisfied.  The  prisoner  worked 
hard.  He  felt  that  at  last  the  clouds  which 
had  so  long  obscured  his  sky  were  about  to 


328  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

break  away,  and  the  sunshine  of  prosperity 
would  soon  be  his. 

But  how  mistaken  we  sometimes  are  when 
forecasting  the  future!  One  afternoon,  at  the 
end  of  three  weeks,  the  old  farmer  rode  up 
for  whom  the  ex-convict  had  stated  that  he 
worked.  The  ex-criminal  was  recognized. 
The  old  farmer  had  some  business  with  the 
employer  of  the  prisoner,  and  in  the  evening 
before  leaving  for  his  home,  thinking  to  do 
humanity  a  great  favor,  confidentially  informed 
his  neighbor  that  he  had  an  ex-penitentiary 
convict  on  his  farm  at  work,  and  that  he  was 
an  old,  hardened  horse-thief,  and  beyond  all 
hope  of  redemption.  That  evening,  after 
supper,  the  prisoner  got  the  "  grand  bounce." 
The  small  amount  of  money  he  received  for 
his  three  weeks'  services  on  the  farm  was 
expended  in  paying  his  expenses  while  con- 
tinuing his  search  for  work. 

He  at  length  arrives  at  Kansas  City,  with 
but  a  few  cents,  and  completely  discouraged 
about  securing  work.  At  this  place  he  met  a 
criminal,  a  former  acquaintance.  He,  too, 
was  without  money.  They  talked  over  their 
misfortunes,  and  after  duly  considering  the 
matter,  came  to  the.  collusion  that  out  of 


THE  EX-CONVICT.  329 

crime  there  was  no  chance  to  get  another  start. 
They  planned  a  burglary  for  the  following 
night.  A  residence  some  distance  from  the 
central  portion  of  the  city  was  entered.  They 
obtained  ten  dollars  and  a  silver  watch,  and 
concluded  to  continue  their  criminal  efforts 
the  next  evening.  During  the  day,  however, 
the  "  pal"  was  arrested  on  another  charge,  and 
locked  up  in  the  city  prison.  He  thought  it 
about  time  to  fly,  and  so  took  his  departure. 
He  spent  the  rest  of  his  time  in  Kansas, 
tramping  about  and  stealing.  When  he  had 
money  he  would  live  well;  when  his  pocket- 
book  was  empty  he  would  beg  and  steal. 
There  was  one  crime  he  committed  for  which 
he  could  not  be  much  blamed.  The  old  farmer 
that  went  to  so  much  trouble  to  convey  the 
intelligence  to  his  brother  granger  that  the 
hero  of  our  story  was  an  ex-convict,  was  the 
sufferer.  The  ex-convict,  to  get  "  even,"  one 
dark  night  entered  the  barn,  rode  away  a  beau- 
tiful riding  pony,  sold  him  for  fifty  dollars  in 
cash,  and  forgot  to  mention  the  fact  to  the 
farmer.  In  stealing,  tramping  and  begging 
the  time  had  been  chiefly  taken  up  from  the 
day  he  had  left  the  prison,  to  the  morning  he 


33°          -  THE  TWIN  HELLS. 

came  to  my  house  for  something  to  eat.  He 
will  doubtless  continue  this  course  until  caught 
in  some  criminal  act,  which  will  result  in 
another  term  in  the  penitentiary. 

The  great  majority  of  the  criminals  in  the 
penitentiary  are  young  men.  One  dose  of 
prison  life  is  all  they  desire.  Did  they  but 
have  the  least  opportunity  of  living  useful  lives, 
and  becoming  respectable  citizens  when  out  of 
prison,  they  would  improve  it,  instead  of  com- 
mitting crime  and  being  returned  to  hard  labor 
without  compensation.  I  am  now  pleading  for 
hundreds  of  young  men  who  are  in  prison  for 
the  first  time,  and  have  all  the  punishment 
along  this  line  they  desire,  who  would  like  to 
reform  and  become  useful  citizens.  But  how 
can  they  accomplish  this  ?  Unaided  they  will 
come  out  of  the  prison,  drift  about  awhile,  and 
then  the  current  of  sin  and  crime  will  bear  them 
back  again  to  a  felon's  cell.  In  an  unguarded 
hour  they  succumbed  to  the  tempter's  power, 
and  fell.  The  dark  mantle  of  disgrace  has 
enveloped  them .  And  if  there  were  some  kind 
friend  to  lend  a  helping  hand,  how  quickly 
would  they  tear  it  off  and  put  on  the  robe  of 
useful  citizenship.  Will  not  the  great  State  of 


THE   EX-CONVICT.  331 

Missouri  adopt  some  plan  to  afford  aid  to  these 
men  who  would  like  to  be  extricated  from  this 
dangerous  quagmire  into  which  they  have 
fallen  ? 


THE    END. 


3    I 


UODN 

A     000  020  29, 


